Captured Flower
by constantdaydreamergirl
Summary: After Daisy's kidnapping, Aster, Jaden, Hannah and a few more friends set of on a rescue mission to find her. However, Kagehoshi has a few surprises in store for them... PLEASE REVIEW! MY PREVIOUS ONE ONLY GOT FOUR FREAKIN' REVIEWS!
1. Chapter 1: I Miss You

Here it is! Chapter 1 of my new story; Captured Flower, the sequel to Fatherly Love. Enjoy…

Chapter 1

I Miss You

Aster sat on a sofa in the living room. It's been two days since Daisy Portrait's abduction, but everything he does reminds him of her. Aster picked up the TV remote. Maybe a bit of television will get his mind off her. He clicked it on:

Nature Show

"The daisies are flowers that bloom in the spring time

Click.

Bargain Hunt

"This portrait of Elizabeth I is worth-"

Click

BBC News

"Professor Daisy Smith founded a new research lab on-"

Cbeebies

"Red and blue makes PURPLE! Can you spell purple?"

"Dammit," Aster muttered, turning the television off. It's like the whole world was against him. Even the TV was. Jaden walked into the room that very moment, talking into a phone.

"Yeah…that's right…Okay great. See you then. Bye" Jaden said and hung up.

"Who were you calling?" Aster asked.

"Our friends back at Duel Academy. They heard about Daisy and they were too eager to help out. They're coming tomorrow" Aster stood up after Jaden said this.

"Where are you going?" Jaden asked. Aster paused in the hallway.

"I need…some time alone." Aster said silently and walked into a room, closing the door behind him. Jaden blinked.

_But that's Daisy's room. Why would he go there? _Jaden thought.

…

"Oh hell" Aster muttered. He'd entered the wrong door and ended up in Daisy's room. He's trying to get his mind off Daisy, not on her constantly. He can't leave again, Jaden was still outside and he might think Aster was crazy, so he might as well stick around.

The room wasn't purple, just a pale cream colour, but the things left behind by Daisy were purple. Aster looked at the dressing table. It was littered with hair bands and hair products, including her GHD hair straighteners. Nothing much really. The bed lay made up neatly with a purple book sitting on top. Aster let curiosity take over and walked over to the bed. He picked up the purple book. It wasn't a dairy.

_Daisy never liked them_ Aster remembered. It was a photo album. Aster had a look at one of the pages. There were a lot of pictures of the two of them. In one of them, Daisy was holding a camera with one hand, and had her arm around Aster with the other. They were both sitting by a tree at Dual Academy island laughing. Next to it, another photograph showed Daisy poking her tongue out at the camera. Aster smiled. Daisy had always been so care free. But that sometimes didn't stop her true emotions from being revealed. Aster sat down on the bed as he remembered a certain occasion.

_Flashback_

_Aster walked towards the blue girl's dorm. He wasn't allowed in, pro or not, so the two of them would meet outside it at a certain time. That way neither of them would get into trouble. However, she wasn't by the docks as they arranged. That meant something was wrong._

"_Leave me alone!"_

_Aster heard the voice. It was Daisy. He ran to where it was coming from. He came to a clearing in the woods. Daisy was standing there terrified, wearing a purple leather jacket, a white t-shirt showing her naval, blue jeans and purple and white sneakers. She was surrounded by various obelisk students. They were either throwing insults or calling her names. A few of them were shoving her around._

"_Momma's girl!" One obelisk said, giving her a shove._

"_Now I know why you wear purple. Your pappy can't afford a uniform!"_

"_You're just a runaway! I bet you can't even duel!"_

"_Humph! Surely you know that's not the correct way to treat a lady." Aster said._

_The obelisks turned around and saw Aster standing there, his arms folded._

"_Now, why don't you leave her alone eh?" Aster asked._

"_Why should we?" One of the obelisks said._

"_Yeah! This girl's nothing to do with you, Phoenix!" Aster walked up to Daisy and placed an arm around her._

"_This "girl", is my girlfriend" Aster said. "And you should never mess with Aster Phoenix or any of his friends, so my advice to you guys would be to CLEAR OFF!!!" Aster yelled the last words, startling the obelisks and running off. Aster watched them go, and then turned to Daisy._

"_You okay?" He asked. Daisy nodded. Her cheeks were slightly tear stained. Aster gently wiped them away. "Hey, let's go over here. Tell me all about what happened" He said soothingly. Daisy nodded again and sat in the shade of a tree. Aster sat next to her._

"_So, what is it about being called a Mommas Girl that's so upsetting then?" Aster asked. Daisy sniffed._

"_Well, they found out about my mom, and started teasing me about it. Pretty childish if you ask me." Daisy said._

"_What is it about your mom that's so upsetting anyway? I never hear you talk about her at all. Is she embarrassing?" Asters questions came blurting out. Tears leaked from Daisy's violet eyes._

"_She's dead" Daisy cried. Aster gasped. Daisy sniffed._

"_A few years ago, my mom became infected with an unknown disease. The doctors tried everything they could to save her, but they'd never encountered anything like it, so they couldn't help her. Mom died when I was nine. About six years ago now. And it still hurts to think about her." Daisy wiped her eyes dry with the back of her hand. Aster looked down guiltily._

"_Sorry I asked" He muttered. He remembered something else. "They called you a runaway as well. Why? You tell me there's nothing wrong with your family, other than your mother dying and all. Is there something else?" Daisy looked up at Aster._

"_Well, there is one thing" Daisy said. "Daddy was just as torn as I was when mom died. He went out drinking heavily. Even in the daytime. He came home late, extremely drunk. Sometimes…" Daisy squeezed her eyes shut. Aster placed an arm around her._

"_If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay. You don't have to." Aster said. Daisy shook her head._

"_No. I started so I should finish. Besides…" Daisy looked up and smiled. "It feels good to get something this heavy off my chest." Daisy sighed and continued. "Sometimes my dad got mad for no particular reason when he was drunk. And he…he abused me!" Asters eyes narrowed angrily._

"_That son of a-"_

"_Not sexually! Not sexually!" Daisy said quickly. Aster breathed a sigh of relief._

"_Though he was violent to me. He hit me. He broke my arm once. He even cut me." Daisy rolled up the sleeve of her purple leather jacket. Asters eyes widened at what he saw. There were cuts all over her arm._

"_He gave these to me before I came here. About a few weeks ago. The pain I faced was too much, so when I took up duelling, I sneaked out at night to duel. It helped me get my mind off dad. But I still faced him when I came back home, and he'd abuse me twice as much. I couldn't escape. But, I found hope one night. There was a brochure about tryouts for duel academy. So, I tried out in the exams and passed with flying colours. I was going to duel academy as an obelisk blue. I ran away from home." Daisy looked up at Aster. Aster didn't know how he should react._

"_What happened to your dad?" Aster asked, curious. Daisy smiled._

"_A neighbour heard screams coming from my house, i.e. me. They got the police on him and arrested my dad. Good riddance. Justice shall finally come to him."_

"_Good for you Daisy" Aster said. Daisy cocked her head to the side as she looked at Aster._

"_Y'know, I wish I was more like you Aster" Daisy said. Aster raised an eyebrow._

"_How?"_

"_Well, you're always so strong and confident. You've got everything that can ever make you happy. At least you never had family problems." Daisy twirled a strand of her hair around her finger as she spoke. Aster looked down sadly, the shade hiding most of his face._

"_What's wrong?" Daisy asked. Aster said nothing._

"_Did I upset you, Aster?" Daisy wondered. Aster looked up and shook his head._

"_No. It's just that…I've had family problems too." Aster closed his eyes. Daisy looked at him._

"_Are you okay?" She asked._

"_I'm fine. It's just that…I lost my father when I was about six. I recently found out the d, my guardian, was the one behind it all, even stealing the ultimate destiny card. I didn't have anyone else to look after me back then, since my mom died when I was little. I had nobody." Aster clutched the grass in his right hand. "I felt so lonely. Throughout my life, I was manipulated by mere words for their own personal gain. The D. Sartorius. Everybody seemed to be against me!" Tears welled up in Asters closed eyes. "After Jaden destroyed the light of destruction, I then realised I had been used my whole life, and I started feeling scared. I was scared that I hadn't advanced as a person, and I'm still scared about it now." Aster wiped his eyes, opened them and looked at Daisy._

_She looks so innocent. Aster thought. It's hard to believe that she was abused._

_I thought I had it rough. Daisy thought. I've only lost one parent, but Asters an orphan._

"_Wow. Looks like we've had a little heart to heart about our past!" Daisy realised. Aster pulled Daisy closer to him gently._

"_You forgot one character trait about me" Aster said. Daisy blinked._

"_What is it?" She asked. Aster held her chin gently and planted a kiss on her lips._

"_I'm absolutely crazy for you, Daisy" Aster whispered. Daisy suddenly linked her little finger round Asters. Daisy giggled._

"_Now our private lives are kept between us. We have officially bonded with each other. We'll always be there for each other and protect each other, y'know like kindred spirits. Or in your case, destiny." Daisy announced. Aster laughed at the little joke Daisy gave. Daisy snuggled closer to Aster._

"_I'll always be there for you, and I know you'll be there for me too." Daisy said. Aster smiled and nodded._

"_Always" Aster promised. Daisy wrapped her arms around Aster, surprising him a little bit._

"_Thanks for listening to me, Aster. You're such a good listener." Aster wrapped his arms around Daisy in a hug._

"_Heck, that's what soul mates do, right?"_

"_Right" Daisy agreed. The two of them parted from their hug, stood up and walked off hand in hand._

Aster returned to the present after having that flashback. That was the day they had their official heart to heart about their pasts. They were officially closer after that day. Now, she was far away to who knows where. Aster looked at the rest of the photographs in the photo album. There were a few photos of Aster duelling, but the rest were of the two of them. Some of them where when they were messing around, others were of them just being together, including a few strips from photo booths. They were always there for each other. Until now that is…

"_I'll always be there for you, and I know you'll be there for me too"_ Daisy's voice echoed through his mind. The promise they made to each other. Aster kept the promise, and so did Daisy, but now, the promise was broken. Aster didn't stop Kagehoshi from kidnapping Daisy.

"It's all my fault!" Aster said. Aster punched the wall behind him in frustration. Unfortunately, the anger activated his powers over earth, and a massive hole halfway through the wall appeared. Aster held his fist in surprise.

"Whoops. Gotta be more careful." Aster noted. He didn't even know his own strength anymore. Both him and Daisy were strong personality wise and they always stood up for each other. They both loved duelling, especially each other. Daisy even managed to beat Aster once!

Aster found a picture of Daisy duelling. Aster took the photograph for her. She was beating one of the top ranking obelisks. It was obvious she was going to be successful in the pro leagues. She was always a good fighter, with her feisty personality and her cheerful attitude. She always brightened Asters day. Now, nothing could ever cheer him up unless he found and rescued Daisy, but with no idea where Kagehoshi is, it wasn't even possible.

Asters eyes fell on a picture of Daisy. She was smiling happily, the sun reflecting her face and the sea breeze blowing at her black hair. It still hurt to see her face, and to hear her cheerful laughter in Asters head. Aster could almost hear it now!

"_We'll always be there for each other and protect each other…"_

Something wet dropped onto Daisy's photograph. Aster covered his eyes with his hand and chocked back a sob. Tears were leaking through his fingers.

"I miss you Daisy" Aster said quietly, and just sat in Daisy's room, crying over his lost love. He was going to make sure she was okay, no matter what it took.

**Well, er, that's the first chapter, stay tuned for chapter two. Sorry if this chapter wasn't much, it all came rapid fire, but chapter two might make up for it, hint hint!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Gathering

**Chapter 2 is up and running! Enjoy…**

Chapter 2

The Gathering

_Aster wandered around the room with mirrors. He'd been dreaming about it for quite some time since Daisy's kidnapping, yet Kagehoshi never showed up. Of course, Aster could never tell whether he'd been past the same place more than twice; all the mirrors looked the same, except a few would hover a few inches higher than the rest of them._

_Aster stopped walking. He listened to the quiet dropping of water echo across the room. Just then, he thought he heard a voice. Aster looked around. Nothing._

_Drip……Drip……_

"_Aster…"_

_That time, Aster definitely heard it. He looked around for the source of the voice. Still nothing. All he saw was his reflection in the mirrors. Suddenly, one of the mirrors glowed. Aster stared at it as his reflection changed into a blur. After a few seconds, the image was a little clearer, and created the form of a girl. A girl he knew._

"_Daisy?"_

_There was no mistaking it. From the black purple highlighted hair to the violet eyes, it was definitely his girlfriend. However, her face showed no emotion._

"_Where are you?" Aster asked the reflection. "Are you okay?"_

"_You didn't protect me." The reflection said._

"_What?" Aster was beyond confused. The reflection of Daisy was talking to him, in a way that didn't make sense._

"_You broke our promise."_

"_No!" Aster said, shaking his head. "It's nothing like that."_

"_You let Kagehoshi kidnap me."_

_Aster knew that Kagehoshi would do this kind of cruel trick on him, but there was no sign of a trick. Just a reflection of Daisy in one of the mirrors. Aster noticed that her eyes were lifeless. It was a trick! Aster tried to ignore the harsh words the Daisy-maybe was throwing at him, but it was so hard to ignore._

"_I tried, Daisy!" Aster yelled, his voice nearly breaking._

"_How could you let this happen, Aster? I thought you loved me."_

"_I do!" Aster turned his head away from the mirror, his eyes squeezed shut._

"_How could you do such a thing, after all we'd been through?"_

_It was obvious now what Kagehoshi was doing now; breaking Aster down emotionally by taking control of Daisy, and it seemed to be working. Aster was close to tears. Just one more phrase like the last ones would be all that was required to set Aster off._

"_I guess you don't care about me after all. All the things you said were lies."_

"_No…" Aster whispered, the tears pouring down his cheeks. The mirror with the reflection of Daisy disappeared, leaving Aster crying silently._

The dream ended just like that. Aster was still asleep, but he opened his eyes slowly all the same.

"Daisy…" He muttered. He sat up and looked at the clock on his bedside table. 7 o'clock in the morning.

_Thank God it's not a ridiculous time like 3AM_. Aster thought. That dream was almost as bad as the previous ones. Daisy had appeared and broken him down with those harsh words. Aster knew it was a trick, but those words were so hard to ignore. Aster got out of his bed and went towards a mirror that was in the shape of Saturn. He realised that his face was tear-stained. Aster wiped them away with the back of his hand.

_Today's the day._ Aster thought. _Daisy, I'm coming for you._

…

"Aster, I think you should have this"

James was with Aster in the living room. Aster took the gift from James' hands. It was an American Indian style medicine horn.

"Thanks, but what's it for?" Aster asked.

"Look inside" James said.

Aster removed the stopper and took a look. It was filled with water.

"I thought you should have something to fight with. Finding Daisy would mean facing many enemies along the way."

Aster smiled and slung the strap of the horn over his head. "Thanks Dad." At that moment, Hannah entered the room, wearing the same outfit as the day she arrived.

"Ah, Hannah." James started. "Glad you showed up. I need to talk to both of you." Hannah placed her hand in the air. Aster raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"Feeling the air, I need it to get around." Hannah answered. She picked up where James was standing and walked towards him.

"Anyway, on the way on finding Daisy, you'll find someone else." James drew a photograph from his shirt pocket and showed it to the Phoenix Warriors. Aster looked closely at it, but Hannah looked into thin air.

"Well it sounds like a photograph, but I guess you're referring to what's on the photograph that's important." Hannah said. James looked rather awkward, having remembered her blindness.

"Oops, sorry. This girl will be able to help you master your powers. Her name is Chloe." The photograph showed a girl of around fourteen years old with wispy blonde hair down to her waist, a white dress, white shoes and blue eyes.

"How will she help us?" Aster asked.

"The books I found revealed that she masters all four elements. She'll be able to help train you to fight Kagehoshi. I have a feeling you'll go past her hometown on your quest." Aster took the photograph and placed it in the pocket of his silver jacket. Jaden walked through the doorway, talking into his cell phone.

"Your on your way?...How long?...Okay see you then." Jaden pressed the end call button on his cell phone and placed it in his pocket.

"Some of our friends wanted to help out, so they'll be here in a minute." Jaden said.

"Great" Hannah said cheerfully. "Let me know when they get here" She started walking away, bumping into Jaden.

"OW! Can't you watch where your-"

"No" Hannah said annoyed. Jaden rubbed his head nervously.

"Right. Sorry" When Hannah exited the room, Jaden sighed.

"Why am I always forgetting she's blind?" Jaden said through gritted teeth.

"Hey come on, Jay. Even I forget she is." Aster said, reassuringly.

"I do as well" James pointed out.

"I wonder if the others will forget too" Jaden thought out loud. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Jaden said eagerly, and ran out the room. He returned a couple of minutes later with a grin.

"The first adventurers have arrived." Jaden announced. He backed out of the doorway and in entered a boy with a blue jacket and green eyes. A person who everyone knew.

"Jesse!" Aster exclaimed.

"Hey Aster! Long time no see!" Jesse said, in his usual southern accent. He walked up to Aster and enthusiastically gave him a high five. He placed an arm around Asters shoulder.

"Sorry about Daisy and all, but that's why I'm here" Jesse said, pointing at himself proudly. Aster smiled, but then remembered something Jaden said.

"Hey Jay, didn't you mention that more than one person arrived?"

Jaden thought for a moment, and then gave one of his goofy grins.

"Oh yeah! That's right I forgot!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Jaden!"

Everyone's eyes darted towards the doorway, and standing there was Syrus Truesdale, wearing his usual Ra Yellow uniform and looking rather mad.

"How could you forget about me? I thought I was your best friend."

"You are, Sy, but in all the excitement I kinda forgot. Sorry" Jaden was still grinning, but he was rubbing the back of his head nervously. Syrus rolled his grey eyes.

"I'm only here because Daisy's my friend." Syrus looked down sadly. "And I'm just the sidekick" He muttered.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be useful." Aster reassured. "Somehow" He muttered.

"I heard that!" Syrus yelled. Aster sweat dropped and laughed nervously. Syrus may be wimpy sometimes, but he can be scary as well. The doorbell rang again.

"That's mine!" Jaden yelled and once again ran off. Jaden came back after a few seconds.

"Here's the next one!"

"Who is it?" Aster asked. Jaden opened his mouth to answer, but a voice was heard in the distance.

"Left. Left. Left right left." A Texas style voice rang out.

"Oh no." Aster said. "Don't tell me you called-" Before Aster could finish his sentence, a muscled Ra Yellow student stormed in.

"Hiya, soldiers! Sergeant Tyranno Hassleberry reportin' for duty!" He yelled enthusiastically. Aster slapped his forehead.

"You did!" Aster said. Hassleberry noticed this and walked behind Aster.

"What's the problem with me, soldier?" He asked cheerfully, giving Aster a pat on the back, a bit too hard, causing Aster to fall to the floor. (Ooof! Aster said) "I saved your life from that weird statue don't forget." Aster looked up at Hassleberry from the floor.

"Of course I don't remember. In case you haven't realised, I was unconscious when you saved me" Aster said.

"Uh…right. Sorry." Hassleberry said awkwardly.

"Ha ha! He got you." Jaden laughed. "Thanks for showing up."

"Eh, anything for my best friend."

"Jaden's my wingman!" Syrus argued.

"He's my wingman too"

"Who's known him longer?"

Whilst the two argued, Aster rolled his eyes.

"See? This is why it was a bad idea to put the two together." He said to Jaden.

"I thought they got over it" Jaden said.

"Is that everyone?" James asked.

"Well, there's me, Syrus, Hassleberry…" Jesse said, counting on his fingers. "Yep, that's pretty much everyone."

"Good" James smiled. He walked off towards a bookshelf. James looked over his shoulder. "Come on then". Everyone looked at each other, but followed James. James scanned the bookshelf, and when he found the book he was looking for, a red book with gold outlines, he pulled it out. The bookshelf moved to the left, revealing a candlelit corridor. James walked towards it. Hassleberry started to walk, but Hannah stopped him.

"Ever heard of ladies first?" She said and walked off.

"What's her problem?" Jesse wondered. Aster shrugged.

"Dunno. She's my cousin and sometimes I still don't understand her." With that, Syrus, Jaden, Aster, Jesse and Hassleberry entered the strange corridor.

**Ta da! Chapter two! Stay tuned for chappie three, where the gang receive some new "toys". Stay tuned!**


	3. Chapter 3: New Weapons

**Here's chapter 3. Please review. Blah bah blah you know the rest.**

Chapter 3

New Weapons

"Are we there yet? This corridors been going on forever" Jaden's loud voice complained.

The five duellists were still walking in the corridor, since Hannah and James rushed ahead.

"I swear we've been here before" Aster said. "That scratch in the wall definitely looks familiar."

"They've all got the same scratching on them" Jesse pointed out. Everyone looked around and lo and behold, every single wall had Celtic style pattern on them.

"Oh yeah! I never noticed that" Syrus said.

"So let me get this straight, Phoenix." Hassleberry started. "You've got powers"

"Yup"

"And some wacko sorceress is onto ya" Jesse said.

"Yup"

"And she's kidnapped your girlfriend, which is why we're here?"

"See above" Aster said sighing. Everyone looked at him confused.

"Yes. That's why you're here" Everyone stopped walking.

"How do we know you're not talking bull-" Hassleberry started, before Jesse covered his mouth.

"Let's not go that far, partner." Jesse said. He looked at Aster. "Though I'm not sure about this whole "powers" thing. How do we know you're not playing with us?"

Aster smiled. He removed the stopper from his horn. "Well, can a person without powers do this?" He drew some water from the horn and started moving it around his body. The others watched, amazed that Aster was able to manipulate the water just by moving his hands around. After a couple of minutes of playing, Aster moved the water back into the horn and put the stopper back on.

"You convinced yet?" Aster asked. The others nodded, except Hassleberry.

"I dunno. It could be an illusion. I'm not buyin' it" Hassleberry said. Aster punched his fists in thin air, towards Hassleberry. Dust moved across the floor. When it reached Hassleberry, he was encased in a round stone wall.

"Okay now I'm convinced." Hassleberry panicked. "Just let me outta here!"

Jesse and Jaden tried to contain their laughter. Aster shrugged his shoulders.

"What-ev. Least you've learned your lesson." Aster walked up to Hassleberry and punched the earth surrounding Hassleberry. It crumbled and collapsed into rubble by Hassleberry's feet. Hassleberry brushed some dust off himself.

"Come on. We'd better get moving." Aster said and started walking off. The others hesitated, but followed all the same. After some time, the five of them came across a wooden door.

"Finally!" Jaden exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. Aster rolled his eyes and opened the door. The five of them entered.

"Whoa!" They all said at the same time. The room was the size of a ballroom, jam-packed with books and magical objects. The five of them looked around it.

"Wow! Look at all this cool stuff." Syrus said.

"Check out this sword!" Jesse exclaimed, his hands pressed against the glass case.

"Sam hill! This place is amazin'!" Hassleberry said.

"To think this place was in my home." Aster said, busy admiring a ninja's outfit.

"Ah! You're here at last"

The five boys stopped admiring random artefacts and turned to the source of the voice. James was standing there, along with Hannah, who was standing there with her arms folded.

"Took you long enough" She said.

"Come on! That corridor's huge!" Syrus whined.

"Anyway, why are we here?" Jaden asked. He suddenly looked to the left. "Sweet, check out this weapon" Jaden ran to the weapon and pressed his hands on the glass container. It was a special whip that had an axe at the end, and it had a special function to shoot electricity from the axe as well.

"Well, since it will be dangerous finding Daisy, I'm providing you with special weapons." James said.

"Sweet! Can I have this whip? Can I? Can I? Can I?" Jaden asked excitedly, jumping up and down like a toddler and pointing at it. James laughed.

"Sorry, but at your stage, you can't crack that whip without slicing yourself into ribbons" James said. Jaden folded his arms and pouted.

"Aw, come on Jay. I'm sure you'll get a good weapon." Jesse reassured. Jaden sighed, shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the others.

"Now then, since we're all here, shall we start?" James stepped aside, and behind him was a table, and on top of it were various weapons. Everyone stared at them in amazement. James picked up a bow and arrows.

"Jesse. The bow and arrows are yours. They have a unique ability. Whoever is hit by these won't die, but will be under your control for a short amount of time. However, they will die if they're hit in the head or the heart." James handed them to Jesse, who took them enthusiastically.

"Wow. Thanks." Jesse walked off, admiring his new bow.

"Hannah. This one is yours." James picked up a red bag with a gold sparrow sewn on the flap. "This bag contains golden miniature sparrows that, when thrown, go towards a target and destroys it on contact. The supply is unlimited, so you don't need to worry about running out." Hannah took the bag and placed it over her shoulder. She took out one of the sparrows and felt it.

"I wonder if my flames can make it more powerful"

"Hassleberry. You're having this." James picked up a headband with a face of a T-rex on it. Hassleberry took it.

"What's it do?"

"It can increase your strength, so, technically, you'll be five times stronger than you are now"

"Whoa! Thanks!" Hassleberry beamed, and tied the headband around his head.

"Jaden. You are the wielder of this gun." James handed Jaden a ray gun-like weapon. "It can fire different ranges of attacks, from a laser, to vibrations, and so on."

"Sweet! This is better than that whip." Jaden exclaimed. Unfortunately, his finger slipped on the trigger, causing it to faire vibrations at the wall and making Jaden fly off into a bookshelf behind him. Everyone winced when he hit the bookshelf, especially when some of the books landed on his head. Jaden moaned and rubbed his head. "That hurt! But it was cool! Wonder where the laser is?" Jaden started to fiddle with the gun.

"Aster. This one is all yours." James picked up the weapon. Aster took it and stared at it in amazement. It was a golden manacle with a phoenix scratched out on it, and its wings were surrounding a green orb. Aster placed it on his right wrist (to cover up his scars).

"What does it do?" He asked, admiring the stone in the centre.

"It's rumoured to enhance a phoenix warrior with a certain ability by waving their hand over the orb. Also, it can increase their agility and fighting skills by ten times their original amount. For you that's a lot."

"Whoa! You'll be almost stronger than Hassleberry." Jesse said.

"What does it mean by increasing my agility?" Aster wondered.

"Well…" James started.

"Here's the laser!" Jaden exclaimed. He pulled the trigger and fired a laser towards Aster accidentally. Aster darted his head towards the laser in surprise. Unknowingly to him, the green orb started glowing. Aster quickly did some backward somersaults to dodge the laser before landing into a fighting stance after the laser died down. Aster looked at the manacle in amazement. The green orb's glow died down.

"That" James finished.

"I see what you mean" Aster said.

"That was awesome" Syrus exclaimed.

"Yeah. You were better than those gymnasts you see on the telly" Jaden said, standing up and running towards a pleased Aster.

"Syrus"

Syrus looked up. James was holding what looked like a silver hilt without a sword.

"This last one is yours." Syrus took it.

"It doesn't look like much" He muttered, disappointed he didn't get any cool weapons like the others did.

"Oh yeah?" James said smiling. "Press that blue orb in the centre." Syrus obeyed. Immediately, a blue sword rose up from the hilt. It was three times longer in width than an ordinary sword.

"It has the ability to cut through anything, even the thickest metal or stone"

"Yay!" Syrus cheered. "From now on I am Syrus the Swordsman!" He said boldly, holding his new weapon up in the air. Unfortunately, it was too heavy for him and he ended up dropping it on his foot.

"YEOW!!" Syrus yelled, clutching his foot. Everyone laughed at him.

"Unfortunately, you'll have to learn to cope with its weight." James said.

"Not so mighty now are ya Syrus" Jesse laughed.

"Ah, shut up" Syrus yelled.

**Well, er, that's chapter three. You know what's next. I'll just be wasting my time if you already know what I'm going to write. Also, to the lowlife who gave me a bad review, (censor) YOU!!! Okay, I've had my sugar rush, heh heh.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Book

**Ta da! Chapter four**

Chapter 4

The Book

"You guys ready to go yet?" James asked. Everyone was sitting in the living room, except for Hannah and Karen.

"Nope. Karen and Hannah have been arguing for ages." Jaden said, spinning the trigger hole of his gun around his finger.

"Don't tell me you didn't hear them" Aster said.

Finally, Hannah entered the room, her arms folded and a cross look on her face.

"Mom, I'm going. You can't stop me" Karen entered, also with her arms folded.

"But I'm your mother. You're my responsibility. I don't think it's a good idea for a girl like you to go on a dangerous trip like this."

"And why not?" Hannah yelled, their noses just inches apart.

"Because you're blind. You're blind and tiny and…helpless." Karen answered. After she said this, Hassleberry, Aster, Jaden and Jesse burst out laughing. Syrus blinked at them.

"What's so funny?" Syrus asked.

"Hannah? Ha-ha. Helpless? Ha-Ha. I don't think so!" Jesse laughed.

"I've known my cousin long enough to know she's not helpless, with or without powers" Aster said between laughs.

"I'm with ya on that one!" Jaden said in his fit of giggles.

"Hannah is one tough chick" Hassleberry laughed. Suddenly, a fist punched Hassleberry across the face. Everyone stopped laughing and looked at Hassleberry, clutching the right side of his face. They looked at Hannah. She was holding her right fist.

"That was for calling me a chick" She said fiercely. "You're lucky I didn't use my sparrows."

"See what I mean?" Hassleberry said.

"I don't know" Karen said uncertain.

"Look." Aster said. "She'll be fine. She's with us. Besides, if anyone messes with us, I'll sort 'em out"

Karen sighed. "Alright. Hannah can go with you on your quest" Hannah beamed and hugged Karen's waist.

"Thank you thank you thank you" Hannah said quickly.

"YEAH!" Jaden cheered, punching his fist in the air. "We're gonna rescue Daisy!"

"Ahem! First off, Jaden, we don't know where to find her." Syrus said sweat dropping. Jaden fell over anime style.

"Oh yeah! I forgot!" Jaden said, giving one of his famous grins and standing up again.

"I've got a book that might help." James offered. "I'll go get it." James walked off into another room.

"This is the part I'm not participating in" Hannah said, folding her arms.

"You got something against books?" Jesse asked.

"Oh. I've held them before, and…well…they're not exactly my thing" She said. Jesse looked down awkwardly.

"Oh. Right. Sorry" Jesse apologised. James poked his head round the doorway.

"Found it. Come on." James' head disappeared and the gang, minus Hannah and Karen, went towards the room. Aster looked over his shoulder.

"You sure you don't wanna come?" He asked. Hannah nodded.

"Yeah. Just let me know if they're something to listen to."

…

James placed a black book on the table. They were all in his study.

"Hey!" Aster said. "I've seen that before in my-"

"In your vision?" James finished. "I know."

"How'd you know?" Jaden asked.

"I was a spirit then" James answered "It's one of our abilities"

"Which ability was it?" Hassleberry asked.

"That's not important. What's important right now is finding Daisy." Syrus said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

_I thought it was Dad's diary in my vision._ Aster thought._ Guess he swapped them somehow._

"Anyway, out of all the books I found, this one was the weirdest." James said.

"Why?" Hassleberry wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"It won't open. I tried everything."

"I'm sure it's not that difficult." Jaden said. He tried to lift the hardback cover, but nothing happened. "Oh. I see what you mean"

"Let me try." Hassleberry demanded, shoving Jaden out the way rather roughly. "This looks like a job for Sergeant Hassleberry" He picked up the black book. He pulled at the covers of the book, but they wouldn't budge. His head band glowed, the outlines of the T-Rex lighting up, but the covers still didn't move. Hassleberry placed the book on the table after a few minutes.

"Any luck?" Syrus asked, hopefully. Hassleberry shook his head.

"Nah. The 'effin things nailed."

Aster thought to himself. His Dad had tried everything to open that book, but they were all natural. Maybe if he tried, it would open. Aster walked up to the book.

"What are you doing?" Jesse asked.

"Dad's tried every natural method to open this thing up, but now that there's a Phoenix Warrior in this room, it might open"

"Ahhh…I see where you're getting at" James said.

"Getting at what?" Syrus asked innocently.

"Aster's saying that maybe if he used his hocus pocus, it might open" Jesse said.

"Oh, I get it" Syrus, Jaden and Hassleberry said at the same time. Aster rolled his eyes and turned back to the book.

"Something bad is gonna happen, I know it" Jaden said, biting his nails.

"Something interesting happening yet?" Hannah asked, poking her head around the doorframe.

"What are you doing here Hannah?" Aster asked. "I thought you said books weren't your thing."

"They're not. But I heard you drop this." Hannah held up a photo frame with a picture of Asters parents and Aster. Asters eyes widened and he snatched it from Hannah's hands and placed it pack in his pocket.

"Er…you're welcome?" Hannah said, confused. She turned to James.

"Did I upset him?" She asked. James shrugged.

"Can we get going here?" Aster said impatiently.

"Oh, right. Sorry." James apologised.

Aster looked at the book once again. Slowly, Aster reached his right hand towards it. As soon as the fingertips touched the cover, it glowed a faint blue. Everyone stared amazed. Aster moved his hand away from the book and took a couple of steps back. Hannah huddled close to Jaden for comfort, causing him to nervously fiddle with his shirt collar. The book slowly lifted off the table, a blue whirlwind underneath it.

"This is a trick, right? Because I'm a little scared." Hassleberry whimpered.

Suddenly, the book flew open, causing a ginormous wind to go throughout the room. Everybody shielded themselves from the wind and, without warning, the wind stopped, and the book landed on the table again, opened. Syrus stared at the book.

"Okay, what was that all about?" He asked.

Aster shrugged. "Beats me. All I did was touch it"

"Look! Something's happening!" Jesse exclaimed. Sure enough, a ball of blue energy was being developed in the centre of the book. It slowly lifted out of the book and into the air.

"This is weird. I'm outta here." Hassleberry said. He went towards the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't open.

"The door won't budge." Hassleberry grunted. He turned towards the others. "We're trapped!"

"What is that?" James wondered out loud, staring up at the blue ball of energy. It suddenly started shaking violently and it burst. Everyone started screaming and yelling as the black liquid crept from the spot across the ceiling, down the walls and onto the floor.

"EEEKKKK!" Hannah screamed. Even though she couldn't see, she certainly felt the explosion in the air.

"Duck!" Hassleberry yelled, bringing his arm up. A drop of the liquid landed on his arm and started to spread across it slowly. Hassleberry quickly flicked it off. The tar started to fill the room up slowly but gradually.

"What's happening?" Aster panicked. "Did I do something wrong?" Aster noticed the tar-like stuff creep towards his feet. His manacle's orb started to glow. Aster jumped into the air, just as the tar covered the spot where he was. Aster did a back flip and landed on the desk gracefully. He looked at his manacle gratefully.

"Once again this thing saved my life." He said out loud

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew something bad would happen" Jaden yelled. Jesse screamed as the black substance started to climb up his leg.

"Yikes! I never thought I'd miss doing homework." Jesse exclaimed

"You take that back!" Syrus yelled. He saw some tar try to creep up his leg. Syrus jumped around trying to shake it off.

"EW! EW! EW!" Syrus said with each hop he did, but not noticing the tower of black liquid build up directly behind him.

"Syrus look out! Behind you!" Jaden shouted. Syrus looked behind him and screamed just as the tower crashed on top of him like a tidal wave, making the room fill up even more.

Hannah and James climbed onto the desk with Aster for higher ground, but Jesse, Jaden and Hassleberry were trapped in the tar-like substance up to their waists. Jaden's arm became trapped in it. He tried to pull it free, but it didn't work, and only made it creped up his arm, across the rest of his body and over his face.

"HELP!!!" Jaden screamed before going under the blackness. Jesse soon went under as well in the same way as Jaden. Hassleberry clung to the wall in order to stay above the black surface, but it pulled him away from the wall and he sunk. His arm suddenly poked up near the desk. Aster tried to reach across towards him, but just as their finger tips touched, his arm disappeared. Aster nearly lost his balance, and James quickly grabbed Asters wrist and pulled him up.

"Thanks Dad."

Hannah reached into her red bag and pulled out three golden sparrows. She threw them at the floor, making the sparrows glide in circles before flying towards the goo and explode, but it did nothing. As the liquid got higher, Aster and James climbed onto a filing cabinet each, but Hannah, being too short, couldn't get onto one. She tried jumping, but she lost her footing when she landed and fell into the tar-like liquid as well.

"Hannah!" Aster cried. James and Aster watched afraid as the liquid rose slowly and gradually.

"I never knew I would die in such a gross way." James said.

"Well when you were trapped in plasma's wings, that was kinda gross." Aster pointed out.

"Look!" James yelled, pointing somewhere into the liquid. "It's one of Hannah's sparrows." Sure enough, one of the sparrows was floating past the filing cabinets the two Phoenix's were taking refuge on. The black tar covered it up, causing it to explode. The filing cabinets started to moan and creak, slowly leaning towards the strange substance.

"Uh oh!" James and Aster said at the same time. The filing cabinets snapped and the two of them fell into the liquid screaming. Nothing happened for a few seconds, before the blackness suddenly emptied the room and flew in a stream back into the book, leaving the study unharmed; even the filing cabinets were fixed. The book closed with a snap just as Karen walked in. Her eyes widened and she looked around.

"Where'd everyone go?" She wondered. She folded her arms crossly. "Charming. Leaving without saying goodbye."

**Dun Dun DUUUNNNNN!!! Will the gang make it out? Find out next time, only in Captured Flower!**


	5. Chapter 5: Transportation

**Here's chapter five! Hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 5

Transportation

Aster blinked is eyes open, but had to close them slightly due to the sunlight glaring in his eyes. Aster sat up, shielding his eyes with his hand. He looked around and found that everyone else was regaining their consciousness.

"What happened?" Hassleberry asked.

"I'm not sure" James said standing up.

"Hey, where's Jaden?" Syrus said looking around. Aster stood up and looked around. Jesse and Hassleberry did the same.

"There he is" Jesse said, pointing upwards. Everyone looked up and found Jaden up in a tree, clinging on for dear life.

"Help! I've got a thing for heights!" Jaden pleaded.

"What's going on here?" Hannah asked, sitting up on the ground.

"Jaden's stuck in a tree." Syrus said. Aster held back a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jaden yelled.

"Nothing, nothing." Aster said. "Just jump. It's not that far down." Jaden did so, and landed hard on the ground.

"That hurt" Jaden said. Jesse helped him up.

"Not very far down, eh?" Jaden said, giving Aster a glare. Aster laughed nervously.

"Where are we?" James wondered.

Aster looked around. He could tell they were still in Domino City. You could hear the car horns for miles. They were all in front of a house that looked rather run down. Aster immediately recognised.

"Hey, Jaden? Isn't this that house we found my Dad's diary in?"

"Oh yeah! It is!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Interesting. That black stuff was used to trap us, and moved us back into the book to teleport us." James said thoughtfully.

"Yeah? So?" Hannah said.

"So…these types of books can only be used by a Phoenix Warrior. They read their minds to find out where they really want to go, and transport anyone in the room to that location. In this case, this house could lead to Daisy."

"Way to go, Brainiac!" Jesse exclaimed.

"What about the black stuff? Where's that now?" Syrus asked.

"Don't worry. It's probably back in the book" James reassured.

"And that's exactly where it should stay!" Hannah said with her hands on her hips.

"Where'd Aster go?" James said.

"Come on!" Aster yelled. The gang all turned and saw Aster was already by the front door.

"If this leads to Daisy, we've got nothing to lose" Aster tried to open the door, but eventually got it open by banging into it with his shoulder. Aster brushed the dust off his jacket and waited for everyone to enter.

"Well…now what?" Jesse said. Aster shrugged.

"Dunno."

"What about this door?" Jaden asked, pointing at another door. Aster tried to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. Aster turned to the others and shrugged.

"It won't budge." Aster said.

"Stand back!" Jaden ordered as he got his ray gun out. "I'll blast it down." Jaden aimed the gun, set to vibration mode, at the door and was about to pull the trigger when Hassleberry moved it down with his hand.

"Bad idea Sarge. Look at this place? One hit and it will fall on top of us"

"Oh yeah" Jaden said disappointed and put the gun back in his belt.

"I've got an idea." Hannah chirped up. "You'd better stand back though." The gang obeyed. Hannah created a ball of air in her palm and threw it at the door. It wasn't a strong wind, but it blasted the door down all the same.

"Nice one, Hannah." Aster said and walked in the room. There was a silence for a minute, since nobody dared enter the room.

"Holy crap!" Aster's voice yelled. Everyone rushed in to find a shocked Aster standing in the centre of the room."

"What's the problem, Private?"

"This is the place I've been dreaming about for ages." Aster exclaimed. The room was a living room. It looked pretty average, apart from the occasional magical object and photo frame. But what was most confusing was the photographs of Aster and James.

"So this is the place you've been dreaming about." Jaden said. Aster nodded.

"Yeah. Usually, there would be a fireplace right…" Aster looked around and ran towards a fireplace. "Here!" Aster finished.

"So there's a fireplace there. So what?" Jesse said.

"This fireplace was the entrance to where Kagehoshi would be, and maybe Daisy." Aster looked at the fireplace and his excitement died down. He frowned. "But something's missing"

"What?" Hannah asked. "What's missing?"

"There was a photo. It was sort of the key to opening the fireplace up." Aster's eye widened as a thought came to mind. "In fact," Aster started, reaching into his jacket pocket. "It looked a lot like this one" Aster showed the photograph to the others. Hannah looked rather cross.

"Like what one?" She said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry" Aster apologised. James took the photograph from Aster's hands and looked at it.

"Where did you get it?"

"Daisy found it when me and Jaden first came here. I hardly ever leave without it."

"Why?" Hassleberry asked curiously. Aster looked at the floor sadly.

"My mother's in that picture. It's all I have left of her"

"Sorry we asked." Jesse said.

"I wonder…" Aster said to himself looking up. He took the photograph from James' hands and went towards the fireplace again.

_Daisy, I'm coming…_Aster thought. He placed the photograph in the centre of the fireplace.

…

Kagehoshi watched what was going on through her viewing pool. It was a font that looked like it came from a church, and instead of showing her own reflection, she could see what was going on with Aster and the others.

"Dammit!" She hissed. "They figured out how to get in." She watched as Aster placed the photograph on the fireplace. Like his dream, the picture disappeared into the fireplace and it began to move to the left. The gang watched amazed. Kagehoshi smiled to himself. She placed a finger on the surface of the water. Ripples moved across it.

"Let's put a little twist to this. You'll have to prove yourself worthy of fighting me…Aster"

…

After the fireplace finished moving, a blue portal was in its place in the shape of a doorway.

"Wow! It's just like one of those patterns on media player, except there's no music playing." Syrus said.

"Aster, you're a genius!" Jaden exclaimed, hugging his waist, a bit too tightly. "I don't know what we'd do without you!"

"Three second rule" Aster rasped out.

"Sorry" Jaden said, quickly letting go and allowing Aster to get his breath back.

"I don't know about this." Jesse said wearily. "It looks like a trap"

"Well, here's to a new adventure." James said, and walked through a portal. Blue harmless lightning erupted from it for a couple of seconds before calming down.

"So, my picture was the key to finding Kagehoshi, eh?" Aster said. "Clever"

"See you on the other side, soldiers." Hassleberry exclaimed and walked through.

"I'm glad I won't be able too" Hannah muttered before following Hassleberry.

"Come on, Jay" Jesse said cheerfully, walking to Jaden's side. Jaden looked a bit uneasy. "What's up?" Jesse asked.

"Nothing, Jess. It's just that…I'm not sure what could be on the other side"

"Hey, don't worry partner. I'm just as scared as you are." Jesse said smiling.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some ass!" Jaden yelled cheerfully and ran through the portal. Jesse rolled his emerald green eyes.

"Sometimes I still don't understand him." He muttered. Jesse strolled through the gateway, blue lightning erupted, died down, and the portal was calm again.

"You're next Syrus." Aster said. Syrus didn't move.

"You're not scared are ya?" Aster taunted.

"Course not" Syrus yelled.

"Well go on. Nobody's stoppin' you" Syrus turned to Aster, his back to the portal.

"Aster push me through the portal." Syrus declared.

"What? Why?" Aster asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's the only way I'll be able to go through it. I'm too wimpy to do it on my own so come on, have at it." Syrus said, coaxing Aster.

"Uh…okay" Aster said confused. Aster raised his arms to push Syrus.

"NO DON'T! STOP! STOP!" Syrus yelled, bringingg his arms up. Aster brought his arms down, but Syrus glared at him angrily. "Why'd you stop? I said push me."

"You flinched"

"Of course I flinched, you were going to push me into the unknown" Syrus said, indicating the portal.

"Well make up your mind. What do you want me to do?"

"Push me" Aster raised his arms again. "AHHH. NO DON'T DON'T!" Syrus yelled, bringing his arms up again. Aster sighed impatiently and placed his hands on his hips.

"Sorry." Syrus apologised. "I know I'm being difficult and all, but-"

"No, wait" Aster said quickly. "You're right. I should push you" With that, Aster gave Syrus an almighty shove and Syrus fell through the portal backwards.

"Maybe I shouldn't have pushed him so hard." Aster said to himself. Aster walked towards the portal and looked up at it. The electricity from it blew at his silver hair. He closed his eyes.

"I'm coming, Daisy" Aster said. Aster's eyes flared with determination as he opened them and walked through the portal. Just like that, Aster was through, and the others were all looking around.

"Where are we?" James wondered.

"This wasn't in my dream" Aster said, looking around. They were in some sort of wasteland filled with dried up dirt, trees here and there and an almost cloudless sky.

"This place…is weird" Hannah said quietly.

"How?" Jaden asked.

"There's no atmosphere. I can't feel any air." Hannah answered.

"That is weird." Jesse said.

"This isn't the place." Aster said quietly. "She's led us to a trap." Aster squeezed his eyes shut. "Kagehoshi…" Aster hissed. "WHERE ARE YOU?" Aster yelled to the vast wasteland that lay before them.

**OHHH a cliffhanger. Well, er hope you enjoyed it. Y'know, sometimes I just can't be arsed to write authors notes sometimes, so I'll just say hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for more.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Stone King

Here's chapter 6

**Here's chapter 6! I've been working on this chappie throughout my Easter holiday in India. Enjoy!**

Chapter 6

The Stone King

The wasteland was flat and badly cracked. Dust blew over the floor, despite there being no wind or atmosphere, and this wasteland was where Aster and Co. were.

"This place is creeping me out." Syrus whimpered. "There's no wind or atmosphere, but how come everything's moving around like there is?"

"Dunno" Hannah said. "Got any ideas, cousin?" She asked Aster.

"As far as I'm concerned, we're trapped in a giant endless wasteland." Aster said, giving the ground a scuff with his shoe, spreading a bit of dust across the ground. He shrugged. "I've got nothing" Jesse folded his arms.

"Well we're only trapped here because SOMEBODY got their girlfriend kidnapped" Jesse said angrily, glaring at Aster. Aster spun around to face Jesse

"WHAT!" He snapped.

"Alright, alright" Jaden said, bringing his hands up in an attempt to save the peace. "Everyone's worried. Let's just figure out how to -"

"No" Aster interrupted. "I want to hear what Jesse has to say" He placed a hand on his hip. "You're blaming me for all this?"

"I'm just saying" Jesse started, picking out one of his arrows and fiddling with it. "Maybe, if you'd stopped Kagehoshi, Daisy wouldn't have been kidnapped and everything would've been okay. AND THEN MAYBE WE MIGHT NOT BE IN THIS SITUATION!" Jesse yelled the last words. Syrus sat down on a rock with a moan.

"You think this is MY FAULT!" Aster said outraged. He started to advance towards Jesse, fists clenched. Jesse threw his arrow to the ground and waved his hands back and forth in a "bring it on" gesture. Hassleberry quickly zipped in between the two of them to try and stop the fight.

"No. No he's not blaming you" He said quickly.

"No I'm blaming him" Jesse said. Aster placed a hand on Hassleberry's shoulder and threw him behind him as if he were a doll.

"Listen, I wasn't prepared for Kagehoshi to act so quickly." Aster yelled.

"Well you could have stopped her at least. You're the one who says you've got these "magical powers"" Jesse said as a comeback.

"I only found out about them the day before, arrow boy"

Just as Jesse and Aster were about to get into a fight, James stepped between the two of them just in time.

"That's enough!" James said firmly. "Alright, we're all trapped in God knows where, so we've all got to stick together. We can't afford anymore fallouts."

Jesse picked up his arrow, dusted it off and placed it back with the others.

"Listen. Sorry 'bout my little tiff." Jesse apologised.

"I suppose you're forgiven." Aster said with a small smile.

"So, was this anything like your dream at all?" Jaden asked, helping Hassleberry up.

"No" Aster said, shaking his head. "This place must be a trap I know it I-" Before Aster finished his sentence he looked ahead. What he saw made his eyes widen. "Ay yai yai yai yar!" Aster finished.

"What's up?" Syrus asked standing up. Aster pointed in the direction he was looking. Everyone turned and spotted what Aster was looking at. There was a man standing there a few metres away from them. The man had beige trousers and bare feet and chest. His head was bald, his eyes a sickly yellow when they should be white, belts were wrapped around his nose and mouth and he was heavily muscled.

"Who are you and what do you want." Aster demanded. The man said nothing and only grunted. Hassleberry stepped in front of the gang cracking his knuckles.

"Doesn't look like much of a talker. The belts and all" Hassleberry said grinning.

"Hold up. You're not seriously considering taking him on yourself are ya?" Jesse exclaimed.

"Looks like a fair fight" Hassleberry said looking over his shoulder. "Besides, I've got my headband." Hassleberry pointed proudly at his headband, and then turned back to the man. Hassleberry punched a fist into his palm.

"Alright. Let's do this" Hassleberry said.

…

Kagehoshi saw Hassleberry about to take on the man through her viewing font. She smirked.

"Fool. He honestly thinks he can take on my minion? He's one of my strongest and has never been defeated." She said. She made the font water zoom in on the stranger.

"Sekio" She said. "Do it"

…

Everybody watched as Hassleberry prepared to fight Sekio.

"Who is that guy?" Syrus wondered.

"I dunno. But whoever he is, he sure is ugly." Jaden said.

"C'mon, show me what you've got." Hassleberry challenged baring his knuckles. Sekio turned to his right and grabbed a thick rock. He almost effortlessly detached it from the ground and threw it at Hassleberry. Hassleberry jumped out of the way, but the rock was now heading straight towards the others. Syrus stepped in front of the gang quickly, activated his sword and sliced the rock in two.

"Nice one" Aster said.

"Thanks" Syrus said, pleased he had saved everybody's lives.

"Ha! You missed." Hassleberry said. He brought a fist up and charged at Sekio. Before the fist came in contact, however, Sekio caught it in his hand, alarming everybody, even Hassleberry. Sekio threw Hassleberry over his shoulder like he was a doll, causing him to bounce repeatedly off the ground. Everybody, minus Sekio, winced with every bounce Hassleberry did.

"Oooo! That had to hurt" Hannah said. Hassleberry got up rather shakily.

"Heh. Is that all you've got?" Hassleberry challenged. "Well I've got the bones of a dino." Hassleberry's eyes turned to slits, activating his dinosaur DNA. He charged at Sekio again and punched him repeatedly in his stomach and chest. One final punch knocked Sekio onto the ground. Hassleberry dusted his hands off, his eyes returning to normal.

"That was easy" Hassleberry said, and he turned around and walked back towards his cheering friends.

"That was awesome" Syrus cheered.

"Now I definitely wish I had dino DNA" Jesse said.

Unknowingly to everyone, Sekio stood up from the ground and dusted himself off. Aster noticed this and his eyes widened.

"Hassleberry behind you" Aster warned. Hassleberry turned around and, seeing Sekio standing up again, grinned.

"You just don't know when you're beat do ya?" He said. Sekio said nothing. He slowly raised his arms out from the sides and quickly brought them to his chest.

"Something's disturbing the earth." Aster said.

"How can you tell?" Jaden asked.

"I don't know. I just can" Aster answered.

"It's probably a Phoenix Warrior ability." James said. "Y'know, because you control the earth."

Suddenly, the earth began to shake and rumble.

"What's going on?" Hannah shouted over the rumbling.

"Earthquake!" Jaden yelled, falling onto his behind.

"I don't think it's that" Syrus said. "Look" He pointed at Sekio. Sure enough, bits of the earth were tearing away from the ground and attaching itself to Sekio's body.

"The rock's sticking to him!?" James exclaimed. Everybody watched amazed as the earth stuck to Sekio, making a strong armour covering every inch of his body except his eyes so he could see. He moved his arms back down to his sides and walked calmly towards Hassleberry, the earth shaking with every step he took. Hassleberry stared up at Sekio, who was now twice as tall.

"Oh. Crap" Hassleberry said slowly. Without warning, Sekio punched him across the face, forcing Hassleberry off his feet. Sekio grabbed Hassleberry's ankle and spun him round roughly before letting go, one of his boots coming off due to the great force. Hassleberry landed on the ground roughly, staring up at Sekio both amazed and afraid. Sekio punched Hassleberry across the face again, and continued punching him in the stomach and chest with such force, Hassleberry's feet were just inches from the ground. One almighty punch sent Hassleberry flying before skidding across the ground to a stop.

"Interesting" James said. "The stone armour increased that guy's strength. Hassleberry won't be able to punch through that stone. If he keeps getting hit like this, it's over" Hannah covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a terrified gasp.

Hassleberry shakily got up from the ground. By now, he was battered and bruised with grazes on his body. No sooner had he got up, Sekio punched him in the stomach again, surprising him. Before Hassleberry could react, Sekio hit him under the chin. Hassleberry landed on the ground again. He got up on all fours, coughed up a glob of blood and gasped for breath, exhausted from the beatings he'd received. Aster stepped forward, dangerously close to the fight.

"Give it up, Hassleberry." Aster shouted. "If you keep this up, you'll just get yourself killed." Sekio grunted something that sounded like "Ah shut up!" before hitting Aster hard on his right shoulder. Aster landed on the ground back with the others, clutching his right shoulder. Jaden growled furiously, pulled out his gun and fired a ball of electricity at Sekio's back. Sekio grunted in pain and turned to face Jaden, whose ray gun was smoking slightly.

"Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it." Jaden spat. Sekio narrowed his eyes and charged towards Jaden. Hassleberry stared up weakly at what was going on. All he saw was Sekio running towards Jaden.

"Uh oh" Jaden said, his eyes widening. Sekio hit Jaden across his face. Hassleberry gasped as he saw the punch hit Jaden off his feet. Jaden landed roughly on the ground.

"Jaden!" Hassleberry exclaimed. He narrowed his eyes angrily. Nobody hurts Jaden and gets away with it. Sekio turned back towards Hassleberry, who was standing up back onto his feet. Hassleberry wiped away the blood from his mouth, a determined and angry look on his face.

"You…" He muttered. The T-Rex on his headband began to glow, activating his superhuman strength. "BASTARD!" Hassleberry yelled. He hit Sekio across his right cheek, whose eyes widened in surprise as he was flung backwards from the punch, his stone armour shattering from the point where Hassleberry punched him. Sekio landed on the ground, unconscious and his stone armour completely shattered.

"I did it!" Hassleberry exclaimed. He sat down on the ground, completely exhausted. "Phew!" He said. "Thank God for that"

"You okay?" Jaden asked, running to Hassleberry's side and kneeling down next to him. Everyone else followed. Hassleberry smiled up at Jaden.

"Don't worry, Sarge. I'm fine." He reassured. Hannah crouched down next to Hassleberry.

"Can't be too careful" She muttered. She placed a hand on Hassleberry's shoulder. Her hand glowed orange and shined with small stars, also orange. The glow spread across Hassleberry's body, which was when Hannah removed her hand.

"Look!" Jesse exclaimed. "One of his grazes is gone" Sure enough, gradually, all of Hassleberry's bruises, grazes, cuts and other injuries obtained in his fight disappeared. As soon as all traces of injury disappeared from Hassleberry' body, the glowing stopped.

"What was that about?" Aster asked.

"I have the Phoenix Warrior gift of healing" Hannah answered.

"That fight was awesome!" Syrus said.

"Yeah! You tatally kicked his ass" Jesse exclaimed.

"He sure was strong though" Aster said, rubbing his right shoulder. "I think he broke my arm."

"I suppose I've go to heal you too" Hannah said sighing. She walked up to Aster and started healing his right arm. Hassleberry stood up and looked around.

"Anybody seen my boot anywhere?" He asked. "Oh here it is" He said, and picked up his black combat boot and pulled it back onto his foot.

"Congratulations."

Everyone looked around for the source of the voice. There was nobody else around. Aster immediately recognised the voice.

"Kagehoshi! Where's Daisy?" Aster demanded.

"Relax. She's fine. I just came here to congratulate you on defeating Sekio the Stone King. I suppose I'd better bring him home now." Sekio's body started glowing white, and then disappeared.

"Where are ya?" Jesse asked.

"That's none of your business at the moment. I'll be watching you and making your journey…interesting" She said, and gave an evil chuckle.

"Interesting…" Jaden said quietly. He turned to the others. "INTERESTING! There's no way that can be good!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Since I'm in a good mood today" Kagehoshi continued. "I'll set you off on the right track." The ground started rumbling again, and a vast canyon surrounded the gang.

"But remember, I'll be making your little trip to your girlfriend as difficult as can be. Allow me to give you a taster. Ta ta!" Kagehoshi finished. Another faint rumbling was heard in the distance.

"Y'know, I am just about sick of all these earthquakes." Jaden moaned.

"Uh…it isn't an earthquake Jay" Aster said. "In fact, I don't know what it is"

"Uh oh" Jesse said, staring ahead of him with wide eyes.

"What is it Jess?" Jaden asked. He looked to where Jesse was looking and his eyes also widened. "Oh. I see what you mean"

"Will you just tell us what the problem is!" Aster snapped.

"Less chatting more running" Syrus said quickly as he zipped past Aster and around the corner. James, Aster and Hassleberry stared after him.

"Boy, he sure is fast for a shrimp." Hassleberry said. Syrus poked his head around the corner.

"I heard that!" He said quickly before disappearing around the corner again. The rumbling was louder now. Aster, James and Hassleberry turned around slowly and spotted what the problem was. Ahead of them, and just a few meters away, was a giant…

"BOULDER!" Hassleberry yelled.

"Run!" James shouted. Everyone turned around and ran, except Hannah, who looked around confused.

"What's going on?" She asked. Aster rushed back to her and grabbed her wrist.

"Ask questions later." He said quickly. "Run!" With that, he ran off with the others with Hannah holding onto him by the wrist for dear life. Everybody dashed through the canyon, the boulder in hot persuit…

**That's the end of that chapter. Y'know, I think I'm getting a bit of a habit of making cliffhangers. Oh yeah, one for thing. To SetoGlomper, thanks for the reviews you gave me. They really help me to write more chapters. I hope YOU GUYS can learn from her. Anyway stay tuned! Chapter seven coming soon!**


	7. Chapter 7: Dash through the Canyon

Chapter seven folks

**Chapter seven folks! Shame the hols are nearly over. Also, I'm thinking of doing a short about Daisy and how she feels about being kidnapped to the song Missing by Evanescence. It'll be a one-shot so it might not work, but I've had it in my head for AGES! Anyway, enjoy my chapter!**

Chapter 7

Dash through the canyon

"BOULDER!" Hassleberry yelled.

"Run!" James shouted. Everyone turned and ran off, except Hannah, who looked around confused.

"What's going on?" She said. Aster ran back to her and grabbed her wrist.

"Ask questions later" He said quickly. "Run!" With that, Aster ran off to catch up with the others, with Hannah clinging on for dear life. Everybody dashed around the canyon, but the boulder was still gaining on them.

"Kagehoshi really isn't making this easy for us, is she" Jaden said.

"Do you even know where we're going, Private Truesdale?" Hassleberry shouted.

"You were following me?" Syrus yelled back. "I was following Aster, he's faster than me."

"Well all I know is that I don't want to turn into a pancake" Aster yelled.

The gang continued running to try and get ahead of the boulder. However, when they turned a corner, disaster struck.

"It's a dead end!" James exclaimed.

"We're doomed!" Jesse said.

"Stand back" Aster said. Everybody obeyed. Aster walked towards the boulder, which was only meters away.

"Are you nuts?" Jaden exclaimed.

"He knows what he's doing" James said. When the boulder was close to Aster, he gave a small smile. Just as the boulder reached Aster, he punched it, causing the boulder to shatter into rubble and dust.

"Whoa!" Jesse said, wincing slightly.

"Didn't that hurt?" Syrus asked.

"Nope" Aster said, walking back towards the others.

"Dammit!" Kagehoshi's voice hissed. "Don't think you'll be getting off that easily though" Suddenly, the canyon started shaking again.

"What now?" Jaden moaned. Without warning, small boulders rolled down the sides of the canyon.

"Oh, come on!" Aster moaned.

"Here we go again" Syrus said and he started to run again. Everyone else followed, narrowly avoiding the falling boulders

"At least we're getting a good workout" Jesse said.

The gang continued running along the canyon passage, the boulders falling in all directions. Suddenly, James tripped and fell flat on the ground, and a boulder was about to fall on top of him.

"Dad!" Aster cried out. James looked up and, after seeing the boulder, braced himself for the impact. Syrus stepped in front of him and, using his sword, sliced the rock as if it were cheese. Aster rushed to James and helped him up.

"Dad, are you okay? You have to be more careful. C'mon" Aster and James ran off again.

"Thanks for saving my Dad's life Syrus. Hey no problem Aster" Syrus muttered before running to catch up with everyone else. The rubble and boulders continued to fall in a massive rockalanche. Suddenly, part of the ground cracked open, revealing a pool of lava. Jesse jumped over it successfully, and so did Hassleberry, Jaden and Syrus. James grabbed Hannah by the arm and jumped across the gap as well. Aster ran around the corner towards the pit of lava.

"The pit's larger now!" Jaden exclaimed. "He'll never make it!"

"Don't be so sure" Aster said. His manacle's orb glowed green. Aster jumped at the edge of the pit, doing a forward flip and landing on the other side successfully. He almost lost his balance, but quickly regained it.

"What did I tell ya?" Aster said triumphantly. A faint cracking was heard. The earth under Aster's feet was crumbling. "Uh oh" Aster said. The earth gave way and Aster fell towards the lava. Quickly, he grabbed onto a rock sticking out of the wall. He tried to grab the rock with his other hand, but it slipped, so Aster was hanging onto the rock with one hand, absolutely terrified for his life.

"Aster!" Syrus cried out.

"He's too far down." Hassleberry said. "None of us can reach him."

"He's done for" Jesse said clutching his head.

"No he's not" James said.

"Little help here!" Aster shouted. James looked down at Aster's terrified face.

"I've got an idea son. Don't worry" James yelled down to him.

"Well that's good. Because I think my hand's slipping" Aster said. Sure enough, Aster's hand was slowly and gradually slipping away from the rock.

"I want you to let go." James said.

"WHAT!!" The gang, including Aster, shouted at the same time.

"Are you nuts? He'll be fried!" Hassleberry yelled.

"We're trying to save him, not kill him!" Hannah snapped.

"Look, Aster's manacle has another ability other than increasing his agility and fighting. It's the only way he'll be saved." James said to the others. He turned back to Aster. "Listen, when you let go, wave your hand over that green orb in the manacle."

"Are you sure this'll work?" Aster said. "My life's kinda on the line here."

"Positive" James reassured. Aster closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked up at his father.

"If this doesn't work, I am so becoming your personal poltergeist." Aster said. At that point, Aster's hand slipped from the rock and he fell towards the lava.

"NO!" The gang minus James screamed. As he fell, Aster looked at his manacle.

"Here goes nothing" Aster said. He waved his hand over the orb. Instead of glowing green, it glowed yellow. Suddenly, golden wings like a phoenix appeared near Aster's back. Aster spotted them appear and was both amazed and surprised.

"What the-" He started. "Whoa" He said as the wings moved him up through the air just moments before he come in contact with the lava. He landed far from the edge of the pit with the others. The wings disappeared as he came in contact with the ground. Jaden hugged Aster's waist.

"Thank God you're alive" Jaden cried.

"What did I say about the three second rule?" Aster reminded.

"Sorry" Jaden said quickly, letting go of Aster.

"What was that?" Syrus wondered.

"Phoenix wings" James said. "An ability of Aster's manacle. They allow him to fly through the air."

"Uh…guys" Jesse said.

"What's wrong, soldier?" Hassleberry asked.

"Is it just me or are the walls closing in?" Jesse said.

"Run for it!" Jaden yelled.

"This is getting ridiculous" Aster said. The gang ran off through the canyon again, the walls slowly but gradually closing in on them.

"There's an exit up ahead!" Jesse shouted. He ran through it in no time, Aster, Hannah, James and Hassleberry close behind. Jaden ran through after them. However, Syrus was still nearing the exit, and the walls were nearly close together.

"Aw, man" Syrus said. He spread himself flat and edged himself towards the exit. He made it just as the walls closed in.

"Thank God that's over" Jaden said.

"We're not out in the clearing yet. We need to find a cave or something, because in case you haven't realised, the boulders are still falling from the walls." Aster said. So, everybody started running off again, the boulders still falling from the walls of the canyon.

…

Kagehoshi slammed her fist on the edge of her font.

"Dammit" She hissed angrily. "They're alive. I was sure I had them, especially Aster." She looked into the waters of the font. The heroes were all running through the canyon.

"There's a cave. Over there!" Aster yelled, pointing straight ahead of them. Kagehoshi smiled.

"Maybe I should give them a little present." She said. She crouched down and picked up an object wrapped in red cloth. She spun around and disappeared.

…

The gang all entered the cave safely. No sooner had they entered, the boulders immediately stopped falling. Everybody either leaned on a wall of fell onto the ground in exhaustion, all of them gasping for breath.

"Ohh, I'm out of breath" Hannah gasped. Hassleberry sat up.

"I could…keep going for…for another hundred miles…urgh" Hassleberry said between breaths and collapsed onto his back again. Aster laughed rather shakily and sat up.

"You wish" He joked.

"Ourgh! I've got a stitch" Jaden moaned clutching his side.

"My glasses are steamed up" Syrus said, rubbing the steam off the lenses with his yellow jacket.

"F-fuh-four eyes." Jaden stuttered jokingly.

"When the m-moon shines over the c-cow shed…" Jesse sang tauntingly. Aster moaned.

"Stop arguing will ya!" He moaned, slamming his fist into the ground and breaking it slightly. "At least we're all alive"

"A world which Kagehoshi controls" James said.

"Hmmm…great!" Hannah said sarcastically. Some slow clapping was heard in the distance. Everyone turned to the sound. Standing by the entrance of the cave was Kagehoshi, slowly applauding the gang.

"Bravo" Kagehoshi said. "I didn't think you'd survive that"

"Is that…" Jesse said, swallowing. "Kagehoshi?"

"Yup" Aster said. Hassleberry stared at her, his eyes practically love hearts.

"What a babe!" Hassleberry exclaimed. Kagehoshi chuckled.

"Thank you, dino boy" She said. Aster stepped forward, a ball of blue energy surrounding his right hand.

"Cut the crap!" He spat. "What are you doing here?"

"C'mon, I just wanted to give you a present. To congratulate you on surviving my canyon attacks." She picked up an item wrapped up in red cloth. She started to unravel the cloth. Everyone watched, but Aster didn't make the blue orb disappear.

"I hope you like it." She said sweetly. She dropped the cloth on the floor. Everybody was horrified at what Kagehoshi was holding. It was a head. The head of a man named…

"Sekio" Aster breathed, completely horrified.

"No!" Syrus screamed, squeezing his eyes shut. James and Hassleberry stared, open mouthed. Jaden looked completely grossed out.

"Ew" Jesse muttered, covering his mouth with his hand.

"You can mount it above your fireplace." Kagehoshi said, more acidly this time. She threw it towards the others, and it landed by Hannah's feet. There was blood still leaking from the neck, as if the head had been freshly cut. The bone was visible in the neck, some of the belts on Sekio's head were slightly stained with blood and Sekio's eyes were blank and lifeless.

"Uh…lady. If you're trying to gross me out, it's not working. I'm blind." Hannah pointed out, waving a hand over her eyes to prove it.

"The worthless fool couldn't even stop a bunch of kids. Those who disappoint me pay the price." Kagehoshi spat, completely ignoring Hannah. She sighed. "Oh well. Guess I'll have to give his position to some other deserving psychopath." Aster was staring at the floor, shaking with rage.

"You…you…" Aster said. He jerked his head up suddenly. "YOU'RE THE PSYCHOPATH!" He shouted, sticking his right arm out as the blue ball of energy grew larger and fiercer. Aster leaped up in the air as he prepared to attack.

"Go on, Aster. Knock her dead" Jaden cheered.

"Cream her, Phoenix" Hassleberry yelled. "Sekio may be an enemy but he fought a good fight. He didn't deserve this."

Kagehoshi looked up as Aster fell down with his attack towards her.

"There is a time to fight and a time to talk" She said. "And now's not the time to fight." She snapped her fingers and disappeared, just as Aster landed again. Aster's blue ball of energy disappeared. He whipped his head in different directions, looking for Kagehoshi.

"Where'd she go?" Aster wondered. "Coward" He muttered as he walked back towards the others.

"How could she do this?" Syrus whimpered. Hassleberry gave the head a light tap with his boot.

"She's hot, but what a bitch." Hassleberry muttered.

"With us trapped in a world Kagehoshi controls…we're screwed" Jesse said. Jaden turned towards Aster. He was leaning on a wall looking down at the floor. Jaden walked up to him.

"You okay, man?" He asked.

"I'm fine." Aster said quietly. "But when I was about to attack Kagehoshi, I saw one of her eyes. They had no kindness in them. But, somehow, they seemed familiar." Aster shook his head quickly and looked up. "Probably my imagination." He looked at the cave entrance. It was just approaching sunset.

"We should rest up for now" James announced. "God knows what enemies we might encounter tomorrow."

"Hopefully ones that can't have their heads cut off" Syrus said trembling. Everyone lay down on certain parts of the ground and fell asleep. Aster walked towards the mouth of the cave and placed his hand on the wall, his hair blowing in the mysterious breeze. He looked at the sunset.

_This was how it all began._ He thought to himself._ One simple sunset._

Suddenly, Aster felt dizzy. He clutched his head and moaned slightly. He noticed Hannah shift uncomfortably in her sleep, but she settled down quickly.

_So she felt it too._ Aster thought. He looked around outside, hoping to see an enemy, but there was no-one in sight. Aster shrugged and walked back into the cave. He sat down with his back to the wall. Aster reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out Daisy's necklace. This was all he had left of his girlfriend. Now it hurt to even look at it. Aster felt his eyes sting. He wiped them with his arm and lay down. Aster put Daisy's necklace back in his pocket, closed his sapphire eyes and fell asleep.

Kagehoshi watched the cave from a distance. She was hovering in the air, completely invisible.

_They're stronger than I thought._ Kagehoshi thought._ Next time I won't underestimate them. _She started to disappear_. Next time, they'll definitely die. They shall face the wrath_ _of the fires of hell._ Kagehoshi disappeared, leaving the gang asleep in the cave.

**Well…er, that's chapter seven for ya! Next time, the gang face a fire spirit! Stay tuned, review, favourite, blah blah etc. etc.**


	8. Chapter 8: Ember

**After the long wait, here it is, chapter 8. Hope u likey!**

Chapter 8

Ember

"You okay, Aster?" Hannah asked.

It was the next morning and Hannah and Aster were by the cave entrance. Everybody was getting ready to leave, walking around the severed head of Sekio.

"I'm fine, Hannah. I was just…thinking" Aster said.

"About what?" Hannah asked, curious.

"I had another dream last night." Aster said quietly.

"You want to hear about my dream?" Jaden piped up. Aster turned and scowled at Jaden, who backed away slowly. "Never mind. I don't really want to talk about it anyway" And with that, Jaden went back to Jesse.

"I don't know what Kagehoshi wants with me. I mean sure I have powers, but so do you Hannah. Why does she want me specifically?" Aster continued.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find the answer eventually." Hannah reassured. James appeared by the cave entrance.

"It looks like there's a forest over there." James said.

"Look!" Syrus exclaimed, also appearing by the cave entrance, startling Hannah a bit.

"Next time give me a bit more warning." Hannah snapped.

"There's smoke in that forest." Syrus continued.

"Where there's smoke there's fire" Hassleberry said, walking towards James and the others with Jesse.

"Maybe there are people there" Jesse said.

"Or a market. I'm starving!" Hassleberry said. Jaden rushed to the cave entrance suddenly, a spooked look on his face.

"No! This is what happened in my dream! We shouldn't go to the market."

"What did happen?" Hannah asked.

"Food eats people" Jaden said in a spooked voice, his hands clawing the air and his eyes bugged out in fright. Syrus sighed, Jesse shook his head and the rest were not impressed.

"Also," Jaden continued. "The head could talk" Jaden pointed at Sekio's head, which had a few flies buzzing round it. Jaden folded his arms. "You said some very unkind things." He said to Sekio. After Jaden said this, Aster and James slapped their foreheads at the same time.

"Look, let's just go to the forest already." Hannah said.

…

Kagehoshi was once again by her viewing font.

"Those fools did well yesterday." Kagehoshi commented. "But that was just a speed bump." She grinned like a vampire underneath her veil. "At least one of them will die today. I've already sent Ember to destroy them in the forest. The smoke she created was a trap to lure them towards her." She turned away from the font and picked up a photo frame. Inside was a picture of Aster cut out from a magazine.

"Save me…Aster" She whispered.

…

"Oh great! We're almost there to the forest and there's a huge gap!" Syrus moaned.

They were all at the edge of a cliff, but the forest was on the other side.

"Looks like we're doomed." Jaden said. "We might as well wait for whatever Kagehoshi has in store for us."

"No," Jesse said. "I have an idea." He turned to Aster. "Aster, you know you control the earth? Can you grow plants?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I don't see how it's gonna-"

"I need you to grow a vine. A long one. Think you can do it?"

"Okay. Suppose I could give it a shot…Wait how long should I grow it?" Aster asked. Jesse looked across the cliff, shielding his emerald eyes.

"I'd say about a few feet." He went towards a stone wall. "I need you to grow it here" He pointed at an area on the wall. Aster walked towards the spot Jesse pointed at. He placed right hand on the wall and closed his eyes in concentration. Small green stars shined around his hand. Without warning, a reasonably thick vine emerged from the wall and trailed across the floor into a pile.

"Okay, that's cool. Stop" Jesse said. Aster removed his hand and looked at the pile of vines.

"Wow! I didn't think I could do it." Aster said.

"Now what happens?" James asked.

"I want all of you to grab something strong, like a stick or a rock…no wait not a rock, it might weaken the vine." Everybody grabbed a stick from various places on the ground. Jesse picked up the end of the vine and grabbed one of his arrows. He tied the vine to the arrow and lined toe arrow up with his bow. He pulled back the string, ready to fire. Jesse aimed the arrow and let go. The arrow flew through the air so quickly, the air whistled. The arrow stopped when it came in contact with a rock. It vibrated slightly before coming to a stand still. Jesse plucked the vine.

"Yup. That seems tight enough. Alright Aster, I need you to go over to the other side to make sure the arrow stays in place."

"Okay" Aster said. He waved his left hand over his manacle. The phoenix wings activated and Aster hovered in the air. "Good idea by the way Jesse." Aster flew across the cliff and landed on the other side, the wings disappearing when he came in contact with the ground.

"So what do we do, Jess?" Jaden asked.

"It's quite simple really." Jesse said, grabbing another one of his arrows. "We place our sticks or whatever over the vine like this." Jesse said, demonstrating by hooking the arrow over the vine. "Then we slide across." Jesse pushed off the ground and slid across the vine until he reached the other side. He jumped off and placed his arrow back with the others.

"You get it now?" Jesse yelled across. He could just about make out everybody nodding.

"You first Syrus." Aster shouted. Syrus backed away shaking his head.

"No way. I'm not going first." Syrus said.

"Look Sy!" Jaden exclaimed. "It's Dark Magician Girl. She's over there by that rock." Jaden pointed towards a random direction.

"Where? Where?" Syrus said, looking round excitedly.

"Oh no, she went on the other side. Quick Sy, after her." Jaden said frantically.

"I'm coming dark magician girl!" Syrus yelled, sliding across the vine with his stick and landing on the other side safely. He looked around frantically.

"Where'd she go?" Syrus said.

"Oh, looks like you missed her. Better luck next time Sy" Jaden shouted across. He slid across the vine as well. Hannah jumped up to reach the vine, but she couldn't reach, so James picked her up and lifted her towards the vine so she could go down the vine. James followed shortly afterwards along with Hassleberry.

"Is everyone here?" Jesse asked.

"Yup. No worries" Jaden said.

"Good" Jesse said. He eased the arrow out of the rock, untied the vine and put the arrow away.

"Why'd you do that?" Hassleberry asked.

"It's to make sure nobody followed us."

"Good thinking, Private. That idea of sliding across the cliff was sheer genius."

"Good thing too. We're at the forest now" Syrus said.

"Alright. Let's be careful here." James said as they walked into the woods. "There might be traps."

"Wonder what Kagehoshi might send us this time" Aster wondered.

"_Come…Phoenix…_" A voice hissed. Aster stopped walking.

"Huh?" He said confused. Everyone stopped walking and looked at him.

"What's the problem, soldier?" Hassleberry asked.

"Didn't you hear that?" Aster said.

"Hear what?" Hannah said.

"_Come…let me burn you…_"

"That! You couldn't have missed it that time. It was louder" Aster said.

"We didn't hear anything, Aster" Jesse said.

"Let me burn you…burn you to ashes…"

"There it is again! It came from…um…" Aster said, frantically looking around him. "Over there!" He started to run off in the direction, the others following.

"Wait for us, soldier." Hassleberry said.

"Shouldn't we be running away from voices we can't hear rather than towards them?" Syrus asked.

Everybody ran through the forest, with Aster occasionally stopping, looking round and running off in another direction. Eventually, they came to a clearing. The trees and plants seemed to make a circle. In the centre was a small flame.

"That's where the voice is coming from?" Jesse said.

"Apparently, yes." Jaden said. Suddenly, the flame grew a little taller and wilder until it turned into a small flame spiral.

"Ahhh…pretty." Syrus said. Without warning, the spiral erupted into an inferno. Everybody stood back from the blast.

"Whoa! Hot!" Jaden exclaimed. The flames died down, and in its place e was a woman. She had red hair as bright as flames and her skin was a light orange. She wore a long red dress, short sleeved, and her eyes glowed white.

"Wow. She really is hot." Jesse said.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Kagehoshi's voice said.

"Oh, so you sent someone else to do your dirty work, huh Kagehoshi?" Aster said. "Who is she?"

"Meet Ember. The Fire Spirit. Ruler of the flame."

"Thank God it's a spirit." Syrus said, breathing a sigh of relief. "At least they can't have their head cut off." Aster stepped in front off the gang.

"Looks like I'll just have to put out that little flame." Aster said. Ember smiled.

"_Very well._" She said. Her voice sounded like a dozen voices speaking at once. "_I like_ _a challenge_"

"Good luck Aster" Hannah said.

"You sure you want to do this?" Jesse asked.

"Water extinguishes fire right?" Aster said. "Don't worry you guys, this shouldn't take long."

"_Only the fool would challenge me_" Ember said. "_I shall burn you to ashes._" Aster drew some water from his horn and made it spin in a spiral in his right palm.

"Think you can?" Aster challenged with a small smile. "I'm pretty good." Ember outstretched her right arm. A blade of fire emerged in her hand.

"_We shall see, Phoenix._" She muttered. "_Y'know, you and me would go great_ together. _I mean, I rule the flame, and you represent a firebird._"

"Enough of the chit-chat." Aster interrupted. He grasped the water spiral. Immediately, it straightened out and froze into a sword, complete with an icy hilt for Aster to hold. "I've got a girlfriend to save, so let's just get this over with."

"_Couldn't have said it better myself._" Ember said acidly. She charged at Aster with her fire blade above her head and brought it down when she reached him. However, Aster managed to block it with his own sword. She made a swipe at Aster's stomach, but he successfully dodged it with a jump and a neat back flip. Whilst the two of them continued to clash swords and dodge each others attacks, everybody else watched the fight from a distance.

"This is better than my battle." Hassleberry exclaimed.

"I'm sure Aster will win in no time." Jaden said.

"Don't be so sure" James muttered. Everyone turned to him confused.

"What do you mean, uncle?" Hannah asked. James folded his arms.

"I mean, that both Ember and Aster are evenly matched. Notice that the blade of fire hasn't gone out, and Aster's sword hasn't melted?"

"Oh, yeah" Jesse said.

"Aster has to find another way to attack" Syrus said.

Back at the fight, as James had said, they were both evenly matched. Neither weapon was going down.

"_Aren't you getting tired?_" Ember asked.

"Not even slightly." Aster said. He kicked Ember's legs, forcing her off her feet, and allowing him to knock the blade of fire out of her hand with his own sword. The fire blade disappeared as it crashed into a tree. Ember sat up on the ground, only to be met with the point of Aster's sword, which was barely inches from her nose.

"So, what was that you were saying about me burning to ashes?" Aster said with a smile. Ember grinned.

"_I'll show you._" She hissed. Ember grasped the sword. It glowed red from that point and slowly spread upwards towards the hilt.

"_Never hit a woman_" Ember said. "_Especially not with a red hot sword._" The glow finally reached the hilt.

"YEOW!!" Aster yelped, letting go of the sword and clutching his right hand. "That's cheating! You heated the sword up!" Ember stood up, the sword slowly melting in her hand.

"_I'm evil. What do you expect?_" She said with a small shrug of her shoulders. The sword immediately evaporated into vapour. She raised her right arm up in the air. A fireball appeared above her palm, and started to gradually get bigger.

"That fireballs getting bigger!" James exclaimed.

"What's going on now?" Hannah asked.

"There's a fireball getting bigger. He already said that, female Phoenix." Hassleberry said sweat dropping.

"Well, it's not MY fault I'm blind!" Hannah shouted.

"Cut it out will ya!" Jesse snapped. "There's a more serious situation going on here. That fireball's now the size of a house. If Aster is hit by that, there won't even be ashes left." Everyone stared at Jesse after his outburst, but turned back to the fight again.

"That bitch…is deadly." Jaden said slowly.

"_Get ready to die Phoenix!_" Ember shouted over the roaring of the fireball. "_DIE!!_" She shouted as she threw the fireball towards Aster. "_There's nowhere to run now, Phoenix. I claim my victory. I told you nobody could defeat me._" Ember yelled triumphantly.

"God damn it" Aster muttered to himself, as the massive fireball drew closer towards him…

**The End…of the chapter. Will Aster defeat Ember? Will Kagehoshi make another appearance? Find out next time, only in Captured Flower.**


	9. Chapter 9: The fury of Aster

**Alrighty folks! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy, review, favourite, etc etc.**

Chapter 9

The Fury of Aster

"_I claim my victory!_" Ember yelled triumphantly. "_Die, Phoenix!_" The large fireball hurtled towards Aster.

"God damn it" Aster muttered. He knew he was about to loose, unless he thought of something. And fast. Suddenly, Aster thought of an idea. It would be a long shot, but he'd have to try.

"I never thought Aster would get beaten by a girl." Jaden said.

"A hot girl too." Jesse commented.

"Brace yourself, soldiers" Hassleberry said. The fireball was nearly at Aster. "We're about to have impact." The fireball hit the tree Aster was standing by. There was no way Aster would have survived.

"NOOOOOOO" Hannah screamed. "You're gonna get it for killing my cousin!" She yelled at Ember, tears in her eyes.

"Hey! You haven't given up on me already have you?"

Everyone looked around for the source of the voice and there, sitting on a tree branch high up from the blast, was…

"Aster!" Jesse said. Hannah smiled and wiped her blind eyes.

"You're alive!" She exclaimed. Aster smiled and waved down at the others.

"Hi guys!" He yelled cheerfully.

"_But how?_" Ember said. "_I was sure I had you_"

"I've got a special gift from that firebird you keep mentioning." Aster showed her his right wrist, decorated with the manacle.

"Of course! The phoenix wings!" James exclaimed. "Aster must have activated them just before the fireball hit."

"_You'll be finished this time_." Ember snapped. She raised her hands to shoulder height, causing small flames to appear on each of her fingers.

"Oh yeah" Aster said with a cheerful smirk. He waved his hand over the manacle, making the golden wings appear behind him. "You'll have to catch me first." He lifted off the branch and hovered in the air. Ember practically threw her hands at Aster. The small flames shot hundreds of fire darts. Luckily, Aster flew around them easily.

"You'll have to do better than that" Aster said. Ember still fired the fire darts at him. Aster flew in circles around the ring of trees, and also did a few loops in the air.

"Okay, now he's just showing off." Jesse said.

"Enough of this." Aster said. He created a blue energy field and shot it at Ember. It was a successful hit.

"Boo ya!" Aster yelled, punching the air. Ember slowly stood up from the ground with her back to Aster. He raised an eyebrow.

_She's planning something, I know it._ Aster thought. Without warning, Ember spun around quickly and shot a small fire ball at Aster from her fist. It hit Aster in the chest, causing the wings to disappear and Aster started to fall towards the ground. Aster quickly grabbed a tree branch just before he hit the ground.

"Hey, how come the wings disappeared when I got hit?" Aster yelled up at James.

"That's their only weakness. They disappear if you get hit." James said.

"Well you could have mentioned that earlier. That blast really hurt." Aster let go of the branch and dropped a few meters onto the ground, his hand over where the fireball hit him.

"_Get ready, Phoenix_" Ember said. She swung her arm horisontally, creating an orange blade of fire. It flew towards Aster, but he jumped out the way just in time. Ember repeated this attack several times, with Aster doing swift somersaults out the way. Ember stared confused, but when he looked at Asters manacle after his last somersault, she noticed the orb glowing green.

"_I see. Another ability of that manacle._" Ember said. "_Increases your agility right?_"

"Whatever, hot stuff." Aster said. He dragged more water from his horn and used it to attack Ember like a whip. She easily avoided it.

"_Your water manipulating skills are puny._" Ember taunted. "_I can see you only learnt_ _about your powers a few days ago. I'm guessing your cousin is the same._"

"Hey! I've known about them since I was about three! I need the wind to get around!" Hannah yelled. Ember closed her eyes, completely ignoring Hannah

"_It's time I ended this._" An invisible breeze blew Ember's hair upwards and a small orange whirlwind surrounded her.

"What's going on?" Syrus whimpered.

"I don't know" James said. The ground started to crack, causing James and co. to jump onto more land. Aster did likewise. Some of the trees fell along with most of the ground. Aster almost lost his balance on the edge, but quickly regained it. He looked down and, a few feet downwards, a giant moat of water flowed by the fighting ring.

"But you're just asking for defeat now" Aster said. "I don't get it"

"_Oh, you'll get it, Phoenix_" She opened her eyes, which were now glowing red. "_You're so gonna get it_" Suddenly, flames surrounded her and it was so huge, the flames almost burned the forest down. The flames were fierce and merciless, burning anything in sight into ashes. Some of the flames went towards the observers. Everybody screamed and shielded themselves, but Hannah created a dome shaped fire shield around them all, saving their lives. Ember floated off the ground and high into the air, her arms outstretched and the flames at her complete command. Aster stared up at them in complete amazement.

"_Not even your little horn can stop this flame, Phoenix_" Ember said. "_These flames_ _are at my command. Go my flames. Annihilate him_." She pointed at Aster. Immediately, they went straight towards Aster. There was nowhere to run now, let alone fly. The huge flames ten times the size of an inferno reached Aster, causing him to scream loudly in the blast.

"That'll leave a mark." Hassleberry said.

"_HAHAHAHAHA!_" Ember laughed insanely. "_I win, Phoenix…huh?_" She stopped in mid sentence as she spotted something in the smoke. Aster was still standing there alive, slightly burned and gasping for breath, but alive.

"_NO!_" Ember screamed. "_How could you have survived one of my deadliest_ _attacks…again_" She noticed by Asters feet steam rising from the ground.

"I got the idea from Hannah" Aster said, completely breathless. "Using water from my horn, I created a shield. It wasn't much, but it saved my life.

"_But you've used up all your water. You're defenceless_." Ember said with a smirk. Aster blinked in surprise and tried to shake some water from his horn. Only a few droplets came out.

"You're right" Aster said, completely astonished. "There's none left"

"_So now, I can win._" She shot a multiple number of fireballs from her fists. Aster managed to avoid them with more somersaults, but barely this time.

"There's only one thing I don't get." Jesse said. "Why would she create a moat of water? Isn't that her weakness?"

"You're right" Hassleberry said. "But she has got an awesome frontline. Look at Aster. He looks just about ready to collapse."

"Wait! I know what she's going to do!" Hannah exclaimed. "If a fireball hits Aster over the edge, it'll probably knock him out…

"Causing him to drown!" Jaden finished.

At this point, one of the fireballs hit Aster, knocking him off his feet and sliding him across the ground, dangerously close to the edge. Aster sat up and rubbed his head with a moan. Noticing Ember was walking towards him, he stood up quickly and took up a fighting stance.

_She's too powerful._ Aster thought. _I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up._

"_It's over now_." Ember said. A fire ball was floating in her right palm. "_Bye-bye_" She threw the fireball at Aster's head, knocking him unconscious and making him fall into the moat. Hannah ran towards the edge, the others following.

"Aster" Hannah screamed.

"NOOOOOOOO" Jaden yelled.

…

Aster didn't know what was going on. He could tell he was knocked out. He tried opening his eyes, but he couldn't.

"Aster!"

"NOOOOOOOO"

He could still hear his friend's voices. Aster felt bad. He couldn't defeat Ember. Here he was unconscious in a giant moat, possibly about to drown, and Ember was probably going to go after Hannah now. But she was blind. She couldn't possibly fight Ember. He'd failed everybody. He'd failed his friends. He'd failed himself. More importantly, he'd failed Daisy.

"No, stay back, Ember." Jesse said.

What? She was going after his friends. Disappointment was shoved aside and replaced by anger and hate.

"_I'll annihilate you all, just like Aster_."

_Ember couldn't possibly do it_. Aster hoped. _She must have been given orders to kill me and not them._

"But Kagehoshi must have told you to kill Aster and not us" Syrus said hopefully.

_Exactly my words._ Aster thought.

"_Nah. I'll kill you, and then I'll kill a prisoner I've been meaning to kill for a long time_."

Aster's anger grew. It was bad enough Daisy was a prisoner, but other innocents were there too? Who would be killed was the question building up in Aster's mind along with the rage and fury.

"_I'm going to annihilate Phoenix's close friend; Daisy._"

After this sentence, Aster's eyes snapped open, a look of anger on his face. Unknowingly to him, Aster's eyes weren't their usual blue. Instead, the whole of his eyes were white. Aster only had a few things in his mind: anger, hate and revenge. Ember was going to pay dearly, and after that, Kagehoshi was next.

…

"You're going to kill Daisy?" James exclaimed.

"_That's right. And Phoenix isn't here to help you_." She created a fireball in each palm. She started to advance on the gang. "_Goodbye_" Everybody cowered in fear. Jaden looked down at the moat.

"Huh? What's that?" Jaden suddenly said. Everyone turned away from Ember and looked down. A small whirlpool was being created, bubbling slightly.

"Hey, I think it's getting bigger." Jesse said.

"Sam Hill! It's huge." Hassleberry exclaimed.

"I can see the bottom of the moat now" Syrus said. Suddenly, a water spout shot up from the centre of the whirlpool.

"Whoa!" Hassleberry yelled in surprise, falling over backwards.

"That's got to be at least thirty feet. If not, even more." James said.

"There's another one over there." Jaden shouted, pointing in another direction.

"And there!" Syrus said.

"They're everywhere" Hassleberry said, picking himself up from the ground. Water spouts rose up from the moat in all places, until there was hardly anymore space left for them.

"How many are there?" Syrus wondered. Jaden started counting them.

"I think there are about fifty of 'em" He said. At this point, another waterspout, bigger than the rest of them, rose up from where Aster fell. "Er…make that fifty one" Jaden corrected.

"Hey! There's something coming up that big one." Jesse exclaimed, pointing at the largest spout. Sure enough, a white light was travelling up it towards the top.

"Huh?" Hannah said.

"What is it? Is something bothering you?" James asked.

"Yeah. I may be blind but I can't help but think…Is that…Is that Aster?!"

"What?!" Hassleberry exclaimed. "Private Phoenix is alive." At this point, the light reached the top of the spout and at the top was, indeed, Aster.

"HE'S, doing all this!" Jesse exclaimed, unable to believe what was happening.

"There's something different about him. He's not the same." Jaden said quietly.

"What do you mean, Private?"

"Look at his eyes. They're…glowing. And his face. It's so angry. Somehow, all this is because the anger bottled up inside him has been released. This is the rage Aster has been feeling since Daisy's kidnapping." Jaden answered softly.

"Aw! It must be so awesome. I wish I could see it!" Hannah whined.

Aster moved his gaze to Ember, who was staring up at Aster in his water spout in both dismay and fear. He started to flail his arms forward. With each flail, a water spout fell towards Ember. She ran around the ring, the water spouts crashing into where she used to stand each time. She managed to avoid all of them, but she noticed that she was surrounded by the spouts. Aster crossed his arms, causing all the spouts to crash into each other, Ember in the middle. Once the water in the spouts ran out, Ember was dripping wet, less orange than she used to be. She shakily stood up. She stamped her right foot in the ground, causing orange vibrations to travel across the ground from the stamp. Ten fire golems rose from each pulsation. When the pulsations died down, about a hundred of the fire golems were standing there. They slowly moved towards the gang, who stood there terrified, except Hannah, who managed to fight a few off with a few random shots of her fireballs. Unfortunately, one fireball went past Jaden's head, causing him to yell in surprise.

"What was that for? That fireball nearly got me!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry. I can't tell where they are without air."

"Hey, glowy!" Hassleberry yelled up at Aster. "Little help here!" Aster turned to the voice and, seeing the fire golems advancing towards his friends, his expression grew even angrier. He manipulated the water spout he was in to go in the centre of the fighting ring. Aster landed and made a small circle around him with one end of the water spout. He made a circular motion with his right arm, making the water spout longer and causing the circle to grow larger. The fire golems were hit by the water, and were extinguished with a scream that would make anybody's skin crawl.

"Yeowch! That had to hurt." Syrus said.

"_How is this possible?_" Ember yelled. At the sound of her voice, Aster turned to face her. Her white eyes widened and she took a few steps backwards, away from Aster.

"_Heh heh. About me trying to kill you…_"Ember started nervously. She was interrupted when a stream of water knocked her to the floor. She looked up at Aster, who's right hand was dripping wet from the blast.

"I didn't even know he could do that" James said.

A blue aura surrounded Aster's body. Ember tried to penetrate it with a fireball, but it extinguished on contact. Aster started to lift off the ground into the air, the aura growing more and more powerful. Ember stood up and looked up at Aster, who was staring down at her remorsefully with white eyes.

"I never realised Aster was so…angry." Syrus said quietly.

"The greater the anger, the more powerful Aster becomes I guess." Jesse said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I'm with ya on that one, Andersen. Aster's frontline is amazin'! Ember's freaking out!" Hassleberry agreed.

"Uh oh. Get ready. I think Aster's about to do something." Jaden said. "Go Aster! Get your…err…whatever it is you have on!" He cheered.

Aster didn't react, but still looked down at Ember angrily. He suddenly jerked his arms out to his sides, making the blue aura ginormous, almost monstrous. He directed the aura to Ember. It charged towards her, engulfing her in blue light. She screamed as the attack completely drained her firepower. When the aura died down, her body was smoking and she collapsed onto the ground, defeated. Seeing her collapse, Aster expression calmed down slightly. His aura died down and he slowly started to lower himself onto the ground. When his feet touched the earth, his eyes slowly lost their white glow and reverted back to his indigo blue eyes. As soon as he had returned to normal, he clutched his head and started staggering. Everybody rushed to his side and Hassleberry caught Aster just before he hit the ground.

"Is he okay?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah. He's probably just tired. I mean I'd be pretty conked out too after a battle like that." Hassleberry said.

"_Well done._"

Everyone turned to Ember. She had sat up slightly, though it obviously took a lot of effort. Her skin had lost its orange colour, and her flame-like hair was dull.

"_I underestimated him. He's more powerful than I imagined. I'd tell this to his face, but he's unconscious. I won't lie when I say this, but there's something you need to know about Kagehoshi._"

"What about her?" Jaden said, his hand over his gun, just in case she launched an attack.

"That's quite enough Ember." Kagehoshi's voice echoed over the forest. "Time to go home" Ember's body started to glow white.

"_Kagehoshi is…_" She started, but before she could finish her sentence, she disappeared. Everybody was silent for a moment.

"What do you think she was going to say?" Syrus wondered.

"I'm not sure, but somehow I don't want to find out." Jesse said.

"You think Aster might know something about it?" Jaden asked.

"About what?"

Aster's voice startled everyone. They turned towards Aster, whose back was supported by Hassleberry's arm. His eyes were half open and he was smiling weakly. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"You're fight was AWESOME!" Syrus exclaimed.

"You were all like boom!…Pow!…Splosh!…Zap!…Wew!. And Ember was all, "No, how is this possible?"" Jaden yelled, imitating various fighting moves and mocking Ember's voice. Aster smiled slightly.

"Good for you." He said, and he closed his blue eyes again.

"That wouldn't be what I'd say, but heck." Syrus said. He noticed Aster's eyes were closed again. "C'mon, Aster. Don't leave us" Syrus whimpered.

"Er…private. Aster's asleep." Hassleberry said.

"Oh…right." Syrus said, rather embarrassed.

"Well, we'd better get some shelter or something before someone else comes after us." Hassleberry said, picking Aster up gently in his arms. The gang started to walk off through the forest.

…

Kagehoshi saw the entire battle through her viewing font. Right now, she saw everyone walking through the forest, with the exception of an unconscious Aster.

"Well...Aster's a lot stronger than I realised. That power could just be the tip of the iceberg. Who knows what else he could do?" She thought for a moment. "Somehow, I feel as if Aster owes me somehow." She grinned wickedly under her veil. "Maybe it's time he gave me something in return."

**Next time in Captured Flower: A new character joins the gang, Kagehoshi reveals a secret, and one more person is taken hostage. Who will it be? There's only one way to find out…and that's to stick around folks! More coming soon!**


	10. Chapter 10: The Deathless Woman

**Glad you liked my previous chapter, those of you who read it. As a result, I'm making another chapter just for you guys!**

Chapter 10

The Deathless Woman

The entire forest was a dangerous place. Not only were there Venus flytrap flowers, but they also ate humans. Coincidentally, James and Co. were walking in a field full of them.

"These flowers look creepy" Syrus said, staring up at one of them. It drooled slightly and snarled at him, spooking him out and making Syrus run to catch up with the others.

"They're man eating Venus flytraps." James said. "Don't get too close to them, or they might eat you."

"Say what!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Would I taste more like beef or pork?" Jaden panicked.

"Relax soldiers. They're just a bunch of weeds. They wouldn't harm us. I bet they're not even hungry." Hassleberry reassured.

"They'll probably go after you first. You can't even fight carrying Aster" Hannah said.

"Speaking of, is he showing any kind of life?" James asked.

"Nah. Still zonked out. He sure did show some powerful stuff, so it's not surprising" Hassleberry answered.

Snap!

"What was that?" Syrus said, jerking his head in different directions.

"That was a twig, Sy" Jaden said. The plants started rustling.

"Someone's coming." James said. Suddenly, a girl with wispy long blonde hair and a white dress with matching shoes rushed out into the clearing, where the gang were standing. She paused to catch her breath. When she looked up again, she spotted everyone staring at her. She gasped.

"Don't tell Daddy I'm here, please. He doesn't know I'm running away." She gabbled. She clasped her hand over her mouth after realising what she just said.

"Kid, we don't even know who you are." Jesse said. James, however, was busy rustling through Aster's jacket pocket, until he pulled out a photograph. He glanced from the photograph, to the girl, and back to the photograph again.

"I know who you are." He said. "You're Chloe"

"Actually, in my tribe, I am Princess Chloe." She said huffily. She flicked a strand of her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"You still look like a squirt to me" Hassleberry commented without thinking. Jesse gave him a light nudge to prove his point.

"But, why are you running away? It must be sweet being part of royalty." Jaden said, confused.

"Actually, it's very aggravating. Because I have powers, my parents are very strict. They won't let me go out at all and are very overprotective. I'm always watched over and get no freedom whatsoever. That's why I'm running away." Chloe explained.

"Well, my uncle says you mastered all four elements." Hannah pointed out. "You can teach me and my cousin. I manipulate fire and wind, and Aster is water and earth."

"I'll be glad to teach you, err…I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"Hannah"

"Nice to meet you. So, where's your cousin?"

"He's with dino-boy over there." Jesse said, pointing at Hassleberry. Chloe walked over to Hassleberry and looked at the limp body in his arms.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"He was involved in a battle with a fire spirit, so he's pretty tired." Hannah said.

"Oh, yeah. I saw a few explosions in the air. Must have been one heck of a fight."

"You're telling me" Jaden said.

"I know a place you can go for a while. Follow me." She started walking back into the plants, but looked back over her shoulder, realising that no one was following. "Well come on"

"No way! I'm not turning into any plants lunch!" Jesse said.

"Don't worry. They can be quite friendly" Chloe said, and she tickled a plant under its chin. It purred and smiled slightly. "You've got nothing to worry about while I'm here." She continued walking through the plants, with the others following reluctantly. Around twenty minutes later, they reached the end of the field.

"Over there" Chloe said, pointing towards a large tree. "That tree is hollow. We can shelter there for a bit." Everyone entered the hollow tree trunk, rather impressed with its structure.

"Were you alright carrying Aster?" James asked Hassleberry.

"I'm fine with it. I could've carried him all day."

"That's not what your headband says." Jaden said, giggling. Hassleberry looked alarmed.

"It was active?! No wonder private Phoenix felt so light." Hassleberry exclaimed. He gently placed Aster on the ground.

"Still asleep." Hassleberry sighed. Chloe barged him out the way and crouched down by Aster. She moved a strand of silver hair out of his face.

"He's so handsome" She said dreamily. "How long has he been asleep?"

"A few hours. We thought he'd wake up before now, but he hasn't shown any sign of life." Jesse said.

"I'm starting to get kinda worried about him." Jaden muttered. Chloe placed a hand gently on his face. She stayed like that for a few seconds, before removing her hand and standing up.

"I've just looked through his aura. He should wake up anytime soon."

"Did you do something?" Syrus asked.

"No. He'll wake up naturally soon. But he'll still be quite weak. He should avoid any fights for a while."

"Well that's good" Hannah said, relieved.

"I have a few other abilities. But even I'm not aware of them." Chloe said.

"There you are." A voice cried out.

Everyone turned to the hollow entrance, and standing there was a girl with shoulder length bright pink hair and a black leather short skirt with a matching t-shirt. In fact, she looked like a female ninja.

"Melody. I told you not to go after me" Chloe said.

"But father's looking for you. He's worried about you, sister."

"You're sisters!" Jaden exclaimed. Jesse didn't say anything. He was too drawn to Melody. He blushed. Melody looked over Chloe's shoulder at Jesse and blushed the same colour as her hair. She walked slowly towards him.

"Um…hi." She said, waving her hand in a flirty fashion at Jesse. "I'm Melody"

"Hey. I'm Jesse"

"Love is in the air…" Hassleberry sang.

"Melody and Jesse sittin' in the tree" Hannah sang. Jesse scowled at her. "K...I …S…S" She slowed down, getting nervous. "Sorry. I'll leave you lovebirds alone." She said, giving a peace sign.

"You can talk. You and Jaden are already crushing on each other." Hannah and Jaden blushed furiously after Jesse said this.

"This place is cosy, isn't it?" Melody said. Jesse nodded.

"Melody, on your way back home, tell Daddy I'm not coming home. I'm travelling with my new friends." Chloe said. Melody looked at her in surprise.

"What? Why?" She asked.

"Two of these people in this very tree trunk need me to teach them. One of them is wearing a red dress, the other one's over there by the wall. He's unconscious."

"Guess I might not see you again." Melody said sadly to Jesse.

"Yeah. Shame really." He muttered. Melody planted a kiss on his cheek, making Jesse smile slightly and twiddle his thumbs nervously. She turned and began to leave, but Chloe clung onto her arm suddenly.

"Wait. You can travel with us. You've already grown attached to Jesse."

"I'd love that more than anything, but father will-"

"Forget about Daddy." Chloe said. "He'll only hold you back. Just like he held me back."

A slight moan from Aster interrupted the argument. Everyone noticed Aster's eyelids flickering. Jaden rushed to Aster's side and kneeled down beside him.

"C'mon Aster. Wake up" He urged. Aster's eyelids gave one last flicker, and his eyes slowly opened.

"Huh?" Aster said weakly as he opened his eyes.

"You okay?" Jaden asked.

"I…I think so" Aster looked around. "What happened…Where am I?"

"One question at a time, soldier." Hassleberry said.

"Yes. You wouldn't want to overload yourself"

The voice came from the entrance to the tree. Standing there was Kagehoshi. Melody clung to Jesse in fright.

"Who is she?" Melody whimpered, clinging onto Jesse's shirt.

"Kagehoshi" Jesse answered, narrowing his eyebrows.

"So, you decided to show yourself again." Jaden said.

"Well, I came here to say that I'm impressed. You are all very good fighters, and I'm sure you'll rise to the top. If you live long that is."

"We're not you're playthings, Kagehoshi" Hannah said bringing her right arm up with a smirk. A whirlwind was spinning round her right wrist.

"Get ready for the beating of a lifetime." Jaden announced, bringing his gun out and aiming it at her. Syrus activated his sword and got ready to fight.

"You're dead, sugar" Hassleberry said, punching his fist in his palm. Aster tried to stand up, but he had to cling to the wall to keep himself upright. Kagehoshi looked surprised at first, but she recovered and smiled.

"Kill me?" She said. She started chuckling, until it turned into mad laughter. While she laughed, everyone stared at her with VERY disturbed looks. When she'd finished laughing, she would have laughed again at their faces.

"Dude…that laugh wasn't even human!" Aster said.

"What is it you find so funny?" James asked.

"Well, you're right. I'm not human. Well, not quite. Why don't I show you? After all, actions speak louder than words." Kagehoshi slipped a knife from her sleeve and brought it close to her heart. She started to press the point against her skin.

"Oh no" Jesse said. "Don't tell me she's gonna-"

Before Jesse could finish his sentence, the knife went all the way through her skin, piercing her heart and making blood gush out from the wound.

"AAAHHHHH!!" Melody and Chloe screamed at the same time.

"She did!" Jesse yelled. Hassleberry and James looked completely horrified. Jaden and Syrus both looked grossed out. Aster was just shocked.

"Phew" Hannah said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank God I'm blind." Kagehoshi's blood stained her white kimono. The wound would have killed her, but the colour didn't drain from her face. In fact, she looked as if she hadn't been stabbed at all. Kagehoshi looked at the blood on the knife.

"I just pierced my heart." She said. "But I don't die. I can't die. I am Kagehoshi, the deathless woman." On the word deathless, the blood moved from the knife back into the wound. The blood staining the kimono also went back in until there was no blood left. The wound sealed up, and her skin looked good as new.

"Oh-kay! That was freaky!" Jaden said.

Kagehoshi turned to Aster, who was still leaning on the wall and was absolutely shocked.

"Aster, because of you I have this curse." She said. Aster's eyes widened. "And only you can set me free."

"Because of…me?" Aster said. "But why? What can _I_ do?"

"You'll find the answer in due time." Kagehoshi said with a smile. Suddenly, her expression grew fierce. "Anyway down to business. I feel like you owe me after the present I gave you."

"A severed head is hardly a present." Syrus yelled.

"All the same. It's time I took something in return. I'm growing tired of Daisy. She's so convinced you're all going to rescue her."

"Well you can tell her we're on our way." Aster yelled.

"So, I'm going to take one of you with me" Kaghoshi announced. The ribbons from her kimono flew out from her sides towards everybody.

"No" Aster said. Without thinking, he moved away from the wall and ran towards his friends, ignoring the fact he was still weak. He stood in front of everyone in a protective stance.

"Stay away from them." Aster spat, his eyes narrow and his teeth clenched.

"Protecting your friends with your body in your condition?" Kagehoshi questioned. "You sure have a lot of guts."

"I've already had Daisy taken and I'm not letting you take another one."

"But you're weak. You don't stand a chance against my power."

"She's right, Aster" Hannah cried. "Let me be taken. I can't fight until I find atmosphere, and that'll take forever."

"No" Aster declared. "I wasn't ready for you to take Daisy, but I'm damn well ready now." Kagehoshi said nothing. One of the ribbons slowly went towards Aster. He didn't even flinch when it was just inches away from him. Without warning, the ribbon clenched and punched Aster across the face. He recovered quickly.

"If you're trying to bring me down, you're not doing a good job of it"

"Oh yeah, well how's this?" Kagehoshi made the ribbon strike again, but this time it didn't punch him. Instead, one of the edges scraped across his arm cutting through the jacket and making a bit of blood leak out.

"Still not gonna do anything"

"You just won't quit, will you" Kagehoshi said. "You can barely stand, yet here you are protecting your friends."

"Friends stick together, right?" Aster said. "That's why you're not taking anyone" He yelled. He shot a beam of blue energy from his right hand. Kagehoshi ducked to the right, the beam missing her and hitting a tree in the distance.

"That was a lot weaker than your last attack you gave me back at the canyon. It certainly wasn't polite." She commented. She thought for a second. "Hmmm…it seems your powers get stronger when you're angry. Especially while fighting Ember. Oh, boy, you were so mad. That's when you're true power is released." Aster just glared at her. "You really need to learn to control your temper."

"She's right you know" Jaden piped up.

"Anyway, I'm just wasting my time. I've got a busy schedule, so I'm just gonna get this over with. Your too weak, so get outta my way" Kagehoshi batted Aster away forcefully with one of her ribbons, making him fall on the floor. He sat up and looked up at what was going on. Everybody was panicking and trying to get away from Kagehoshi. She scanned the tree trunk for a particular person. When she found him, she smiled under her veil. James was standing against the wall, and when he noticed Kagehoshi was looking at him, well he thought she was because it was hard to tell due to the veil, his eyes widened.

"There you are" Kagehoshi said. She slowly began to walk towards James. He looked in different directions for an escape route, but there was none. He was cornered.

"Dad! No!" Aster yelled. He stood up again, stumbling a bit due to his slight weakness, and stood in front of his father. Kagehoshi stopped walking and narrowed her eyes.

"You just don't give up, do you?" She spat.

"You can take my girlfriend, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you take my father."

"Aster…" James started.

"I've lost him once and I'm not going to lose him again. I've lost too many people in my life. Daisy's kidnapped, Sartorius almost became a raving psychopath, and my mom died before I even knew her. I'm not going to go through that again."

"Your mother?" Kagehoshi said in surprise. She smiled. "Ah yes. I know her"

"You knew Mom?" Aster said.

"Don't listen to her, Aster" Jaden said.

"She's tricking you" Jesse yelled. Aster was oblivious to their words.

"Yeah…I knew your mom. You know her as well."

"I do?"

"Of course. She went missing when you were five. Don't you remember?"

"No" Aster said, shaking his head. "I didn't even know her. Dad said she died."

"He did?" Kagehoshi said, pretending surprise. "Naughty naughty, James. You shouldn't tell porkies." She continued, waggling her finger at James. "Your father lied to you. Don't you remember when you read his diary? He erased your memories of her ever existing. Those anti-memory charms sure do come in handy. He made you grow up in a life full of lies."

"Is this true, Dad?" Aster asked, looking over his shoulder at James. James looked down sadly.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Aster. I only did it to protect you." Aster was shocked by the sudden truth. He turned back to Kagehoshi.

"So she's not dead?"

"You're not very bright, are you? She disappeared when you were five in the night, and never returned. It's such a heart breaking story." Everybody stared at Kagehoshi in both shock and surprise. Aster felt a tear roll down his face.

"She's alive?" He whispered. Kagehoshi nodded. "Wait a minute, how do you know about all this?" He asked suspiciously.

"That's not for you to know." She snapped. "Now move." She shoved him out the way again, but Hassleberry caught Aster. In one swift movement, James' wrist was wrapped up with a ribbon and he was pulled up by the arm. Kagehoshi floated in the air with James towards the hollow entrance.

"Thanks for having me. Ta ta!" Kagehoshi said. She started glowing white. Aster moved away from Hassleberry and towards Kagehoshi.

"Dad! Don't go!" Aster cried out. James smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry for lying to you, Aster. Please forgive me." James said. Kagehoshi glowed white, just like she did when kidnapping Daisy.

"No!" Aster yelled, and shielded himself from the light. The gang did likewise. When the light died down, Kagehoshi was gone, along with James. Aster fell to his knees and looked down at the floor. Jaden walked up to Aster crouched down beside him. He realised that Aster was crying. Aster noticed that someone was near him. He glanced to his right and, noticing Jaden was there, turned away quickly. He wiped away his tears with his arm and stood up. Aster started to walk out of the tree.

"Where are you going?" Chloe asked.

"I need some time alone." Aster answered.

"Listen, we're all upset about another kidnapping, but we'll get through this together." Jesse said.

"That's why we're here. We all want to help." Hannah joined in.

"Now that we know you're mom is alive, you should be happy." Syrus said. Aster stopped walking and moved back into the tree to the gang.

"I'm not sad about that, Sy. It's because my dad lied to me. He said my mom died, but she just disappeared. He kept me hidden away from the truth." He wiped the wetness developing in his eyes with the heal of his hand. "Now he's gone, along with Daisy. I can't get through this without him. With all this business of powers and a psychopathic sorceress, it's all too much. Dad was always there to make me feel better. To tell me everything was going to be okay, but it's not." Tears welled up in his eyes, but Aster didn't even notice them. "I'm absolutely scared out of my life here, and what does he do? He lies to me. He says my mom died a long time ago, but she's alive in god knows where, and to make things worse, he erases my memories of even knowing her. I know he did it to protect me, but from what? What's so dangerous that I had to forget about my own mother?" He covered his eyes with his hand.

"Aster…we all understand that you're upset and angry." Jaden reassured.

"But you can't let your anger get in the way of rescuing Daisy and your father." Chloe said.

"She's right, soldier." Hassleberry said. "We're here to help." Aster looked up at his friends with watery eyes.

"We'll help you get through this, partner." Jesse said, giving Aster a thumbs up.

"Yeah. We're by your side, Aster." Hannah cheered.

"I'll even help you out. I mean, my sister is, so why can't I?" Melody said.

"Kagehoshi is going down" Syrus yelled enthusiastically, punching the air. Aster smiled and wiped his eyes.

"Thanks guys." He said. He went to the tree entrance. "You hear me, Kagehoshi?! We're not going to put up with you anymore!" He yelled. "I've got my friends by my side, and we're all going to kick your butt and rescue our friends together, no matter what it takes." Everybody cheered.

"You tell her Phoenix" Hassleberry yelled, giving Aster a pat on the back. Everybody else went towards Aster, laughing and cheering. Aster smiled.

_I'll get to you, Kagehoshi_. Aster thought. _Together with these guys._

**Ta da! Chapter 10 for ya! Not one of my best one's but…err…more coming soon. Stay tuned!**


	11. Chapter 11: Blood on the Trees

Here's the next chapter folks

**Here's the next chapter folks! Sorry it took so long. Stupid cruddy exams! Oh well, I've only got about three left. So anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter 11

Blood on the Trees

_Aster opened his eyes and looked around him. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not, because he was in the forest he was in now, but it was slightly eerier than before._

"_What the hell?" Aster said to himself. He looked around again. There was a strange fog around the ground, and he was standing in a small circle surrounded by trees. Suddenly, Aster felt something drip onto his face._

"_Huh?" Aster said. He placed a hand on his face and removed it, looking at the fingertips. There was something red on them_

_It's warm. Aster thought. Another drop landed on his shoe, and a third on his shoulder._

_This is…Aster thought. He looked up and his eyes widened. All the trees were dripping with the red liquid and landing on the floor._

"_Ah! Blood!" Aster exclaimed, taking a few steps backwards. Aster stopped panicking and thought for a moment. "Maybe it's just tree sap" He hoped._

_But where is everybody? He thought. This entire forest is deserted._

_Aster turned and noticed there was a pathway leading somewhere else._

"_Thank God I can get away from here" Aster muttered. He walked through the pathway, looking around at the trees. Some of them were dripping blood as well, but the rest looked ordinary._

"_It's so…quiet" Aster said. "Why does that make me uneasy?"_

_Chop!_

_Aster stopped walking with a gasp and looked around. "What was that?" He asked himself._

_Chop!_

_He heard the sound again. "Who's there?" Aster yelled, panic in his voice. His voice echoed throughout the strange woods, but there was no reply._

_Chop!_

"_It sounds like an…axe" Aster said to himself. "Why would there-"_

_Chop!_

"_AAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"_

_Aster was alarmed by the screams. "Whose screams are there?" He yelled._

"_AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"_

_Aster clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block out the screams. "Stop it! STOP IT!" Aster begged._

"_AAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"_

_Aster was terrified at this point. H removed his hands from his ears and dashed through the forest path, with no idea where he was heading. All he wanted was to get away from the screams. Far away in the forest, a stranger was in possession of an axe._

"_AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"_

_The screams continued, and Aster just couldn't get away from them, no matter where he ran. In the distance, the stranger slowly rose the axe above their head._

"_AAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"_

_The axe reached the highest point in the air, and Aster still ran through the forest, getting closer to the stranger. The axe was brought down onto an unknown target._

"_AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!! AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEE-"_

_Just like that, it was over. Aster collapsed on all fours and gasped for breath. Aster sat up, still gasping, and listened._

"_They've stopped." He whispered. "Thank God" Nearby, the stranger was close to Aster, their axe dripping with blood. Aster was unaware of the strange person and stood up, brushing the dirt off himself._

"_Why am I here anyway?" Aster wondered. "This place is a hell of a lot scarier than where I usually end up, with or without Kagehoshi." Aster thought for a moment. "I reconsider." He muttered. "Nothing's scary without Kagehoshi." A light shone from ahead of Aster._

"_What the-" Aster started. He shielded his eyes and stared in disbelief at the light. A shadow seemed to appear in it. It looked like a woman, and something was coming out of her body, rather a lot like ribbons._

"_Hey. That looks kinda like Kagehoshi." Aster realised. The shadow changed shape into a weird gothic building._

"_A castle?" Aster said to himself. Unknowingly to him, the axe was being raised behind him._

"_What on-" Aster started. He sensed that there was something behind him. He turned around and spotted the axe. Aster shielded himself with his arms and screamed just as the axe was brought down._

"Ah!" Aster yelled, sitting up and gasping for breath as if he had run the London marathon.

"Well it's about time you got up" Jesse said with his hands on his hips.

"What?" Aster said confused.

"We all thought you were going to go a-wall on us again" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"Well, it's not MY fault I keep having these nightmares!" Aster snapped, standing up.

"He's had them before?" Chloe asked, looking at Syrus.

"Uh huh" He said absent mindedly.

"We've been waiting for AGES!" Melody exclaimed. "What was so nightmarish that you had to be asleep for hours?"

"Something I never want to see again in my life" Aster answered quietly.

"Well at least you're awake now. Jaden and Syrus were bored stiff" Jesse said, pointing at Jaden, who was busy scratching something on the wall of the trunk with a rock. Hannah was lounging on her back with her hands behind her head, and Syrus was staring at the grass outside.

"I see a ladybug. Hello lady ladybug." Syrus sang in a bored tone.

"Finished!" Jaden announced, dropping his rock and looking at his drawing with great admiration.

"What did you draw?" Aster asked. Jaden stepped aside, showing a very childish drawing of a person.

"Ta da! Sparkman!" Jaden exclaimed. There was a silence from everyone, except Chloe and Melody, who were both sniggering behind their hands, struggling to contain their laughter.

"Uh…the helmets supposed to be on his head." Jesse pointed out.

"This IS his head." Jaden said, pointing at the "head". Hassleberry stepped forward to take a closer look at the scratching.

"Why's he growing daisies?" Hassleberry asked.

"Those are his hands!" Jaden snapped. He looked down sadly. "I'm not very good at drawing, okay?"

"It looks just like him to me" Hannah said ironically. Jaden was obviously flattered by this.

"Thank you, Hannah. I worked really-" Realisation set in on Jaden, and his expression became extremely annoyed. "Why do you feel the need to do that?" Hannah giggled and grinned wickedly.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist." She said gleefully.

"Can we just go now?" Jaden said miserably.

"Alright. Where are you heading?" Melody asked.

"Uh…we don't know" Jesse said.

"I think I do. It was in my dream. There was this big, gothic like castle." Aster said.

"Oh, I think there's one nearby." Chloe said.

"I'm not going over to there. It effects my abilities." Melody said.

"What abilities?" Syrus asked.

"There's a reason why she's called Melody." Chloe pointed out. "She controls sound."

"Really? How?" Jesse asked.

"Watch" Melody said. She stepped outside the tree trunk, the others following. Melody faced a tree and smiled. She pulled out a small wooden flute from her belt.

"Oh, great, so she's just going to give us a concert?" Hassleberry said.

Melody ignored him. She moved the flute to her lips and played a single long note. An explosion happened on the tree trunk. There was a pause. The tree started creaking and fell onto the ground, leaving everybody, except Chloe, gawping.

"That's my talent" Melody said brightly.

"It's cool! Turning a flute into a weapon like that!" Syrus exclaimed.

"You're girlfriend's amazing!" Jaden said to Jesse.

"Yeah…" Jesse said, completely love struck.

"Glad you liked it" Melody giggled and practically skipped towards Jesse and hugged him.

"So, Aster. Looks like you need to tell us about all these dreams you've been having." Chloe said.

"It's a long story."

"Long walk." Hassleberry pointed out.

"Fine"

…

"Really? No way!" Jesse exclaimed, as the gang walked through the forest together.

"Yup" Aster nodded.

"It's so hard to believe that Kagehoshi made your injuries real!" Hannah said.

"Here's the proof." Aster removed his manacle from his wrist to show the faint scars.

"Whoa!" Hassleberry said quietly.

"Hey! What about that band aid on your face?" Syrus asked.

"Knife wound" Aster answered casually, placing the manacle back on his wrist.

"Holy…" Chloe started.

"I didn't even know about that knife wound." Jaden said.

"What about that dream you just had? You looked really freaked out when you woke up." Melody asked.

"He's always waked up like that after having nightmares." Jaden pointed out.

"But this one was different." Aster said. "It was in this very forest." Everyone gasped and stopped walking, turning eagerly towards Aster.

"No…way!" Chloe said slowly.

"What happened? Tellustellustellus!" Syrus said quickly.

"Well, it's very…y'know" Aster said.

"We don't care" Jaden said.

"Alright, but if you have nightmares, let me let you know that …I know exactly how you feel."

"Tell us! The tension's unbearable!" Melody said.

"Well…there was this circle surrounded by trees, and there was this very spooky fog"

"Oh…this is going to be good." Jesse said.

"Anyway, something dripped onto my face. It was warm and red. It was really freaky what it was. The trees were dripping blood. And it wasn't tree sap. It was human blood."

"Creepy" Syrus muttered.

"Then, there was this path that appeared out of nowhere, so I walked down it. It was just so weird. Almost all the trees were dripping blood and the fog was really freaking me out. There was hardly anybody-scratch that-nobody there. But, there was this chopping sound suddenly."

"So? There might have been somebody chopping wood." Hassleberry said.

"I said before there was nobody there. The chopping continued and then there was…there was this screaming. It sounded really terrified and desperate."

"Oh my God" Jaden said quietly.

"The screaming wouldn't stop, and I just ran down the path. I not sure why, I just wasn't thinking straight and I was terrified. But it still wouldn't stop" Aster clamped his ears. "In fact, I can almost hear it now. It was awful. I just kept running and running, but I couldn't get away. Then suddenly, it stopped." Aster removed his hands from his ears. "It was over. Thank God too. There was this light ahead suddenly, and a shadow appeared in it. It looked like Kagehoshi."

"Did you kick her ass?" Jaden asked eagerly.

"No. It was just a silhouette. Then, it changed to a gothic castle. It's probably where Kagehoshi is now."

"This is where we're going now, right?" Hannah asked.

"Yup. I then had a feeling there was somebody behind me. I turned around, and there was this guy with an axe. He was going to attack me with it and he was just about to but then…"

"What? WHAT?" Chloe said.

"I woke up. And…that's what happened."

"Hmmm…maybe these dreams mean something. In some of them, Kagehoshi was trying to kill you, but this one seemed to help us. Maybe these are signs." Syrus said.

"It's a shame Kagehoshi wasn't there. Aster would've kicked her ass." Hassleberry said.

"A shame!? I would've said he was lucky. Look at his injuries." Hannah snapped.

"Aster's got powers to defeat her, female Phoenix."

"But he isn't experienced enough yet. And stop calling me female Phoenix. My name is Hannah"

"That does it. I'm outta here." Aster said, and walked off through the trees. He could still hear Hassleberry and Hannah arguing in the distance. He came into a clearing. There were trees surrounding Aster in a circle. Aster looked up. The tree branches and leaves were reaching out for each other, almost as if they wanted to hold each others hands, and the sunlight made the leaves shine in multiple colours.

"Wow. It's kinda pretty. Almost like a cathedral." Aster said. He looked down sadly. "Daisy would've loved this." He could still remember Daisy being snatched right before his eyes, Kagehoshi's merciless voice, and Daisy's desperate cry rang through his head.

"No" Aster said to himself, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head quickly to get the thought out of his head. "God damn it, Aster. Stop thinking about it."

Drip!

"Eh?" Aster said in confusion, opening his eyes again. Something had dripped onto his left shoulder.

Drip!

Another drop landed on his face. Aster looked at the substance on his shoulder. It was red. Aster looked around him. All the trees were dripping with the same red liquid. Aster realised what was going on.

"EVERYONE! COME QUICKLY!" Aster yelled. "THERE'S BLOOD! BLOOD ON THE TREES!"

…

Meanwhile, Hassleberry and Hannah were still fighting about whether Aster will win against a fight with Kagehoshi or not.

"Look! Private Phoenix controls water, right? One fireball from Kagehoshi and Aster will win easily."

"Kagehoshi masters all elements! Aster's not experienced enough!"

"Positive outlook!"

"Alright, that's enough" Jesse said, stepping between the two of them. "If you really want to know who wins, we can only find out if Hannah and Aster practice."

"Speaking of, where is he?" Chloe asked. Everyone looked around for the silver haired duelist, but he was nowhere to be found.

"I think I saw him walk off when you two were arguing." Jaden said.

"Where would he go?" Syrus wondered.

"EVERYONE! COME QUICKLY! THERE'S BLOOD! BLOOD ON THE TREES!"

"That sounded like Aster!" Jesse exclaimed.

"It came from over here! Come on!" Syrus said and dashed off, with everyone else in hot pursuit. Eventually, they all came to the clearing where Aster was, and there was indeed blood dripping off the trees.

"Oh my God!" Jaden exclaimed.

"This is what happened in your dream, right?" Syus asked. Aster nodded.

"You've got something on your face. Right here." Jesse said, indicating on his own cheek. Aster took notice and wiped the blood splat off his face. Chloe moved to a tree and wiped some of the blood onto her finger.

"This is blood. Not tree blood. Human blood. It's from different people. This one's from a man."

"You can tell who's blood this is?" Jesse said.

"Man, that girl's full of surprises." Hassleberry exclaimed.

"What about that one?" Aster asked, pointing at a random tree. Chloe went towards it and got some of the blood on her finger.

"This one's odd."

"Odd how?" Syrus asked.

"Well, it belongs to a girl. It's probably type B. Very common in girls."

"Can you tell who it belongs too?" Hannah asked.

"I can't tell by name. I can only tell by description."

"Well, what does she look like then?" Melody asked.

"Um…she's about five foot…whoa her hair's weird, it's like part black and part another colour"

Aster listened carefully to the description. "She must be pretty tall. I've-" Aster stopped talking as he remembered something else Chloe said. "Hold up, did you say…her hair was part black and part another colour?"

"Yeah, I think I did"

"What colour?" Aster asked urgently.

"It's hard to tell but…I think it's purple."

"Blood type B…five foot…part black and part purple hair…" Aster said thoughtfully, counting the descriptions off on his fingers. There was a pause as Aster thought.

"Oh no" Aster said, his eyes widening.

"What? What is it?" Syrus asked.

"No way…it's not possible…Kagehoshi wouldn't…oh god…oh god…" Aster said mindlessly, pacing in circles and clutching his head.

"What the hell are you on about?" Jaden said.

"The screams…the blood…what if…" Aster continued. Jesse went up to Aster and grabbed his shoulders.

"Aster, get a hold of yaself. What's the problem?" Jesse said urgently. Asters face was a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"It's the blood…and the screams in my dream…I think I know who they belong to…"

Jesse moved away from Aster. The silver haired duellist took a few steps backwards in shock before falling over onto the floor.

"Who is it?" Hannah asked.

"I think…" Aster started. "I think they belong to…to Daisy."

"Oh my God" Jaden choked. Chloe and Melody stifled a gasp behind their hands.

"The blood on that tree…belongs to Daisy"

**Dun dun DDDDDUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN! More coming soon. Ohhh I luv making cliffhangers. See you guys l8r!**


	12. Chapter 12: The Woodcutter

**Alrighty people! Here's the next chapter! Sorry if I grossed some of you out with my previous chapter! Anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter 12

The Woodcutter

"Come on, Aster! I think you're over reacting" Jaden said.

"Well I can't think of anyone else with purple highlights, can you?" Aster responded, picking himself up from the ground.

"Uh…a girl? Jesse suggested.

"Wait!" Melody said. "Aster, wasn't there a path somewhere in your dream?"

"Yeah, but…I don't see it anywhere" Suddenly, some of the trees parted to reveal a long, winding path, leading to another location. Jaden peered down it.

"How convenient." He said, and started to walk down it, everyone else close behind. Without warning, Hannah tripped and fell to the ground.

"Ow!" She yelled. Everyone turned to Hannah, who was clutching her foot, and a thick wooden object was poking out of the ground. "Dammit! I am so sick of not feeling where I'm going!" She hissed through clenched teeth, slamming her fist into the ground. Jaden helped her up.

"Don't worry, Hannah. I'm sure we'll find a place with atmosphere." He reassured.

"I know, but tripping over handles is just ridiculous" Hannah exclaimed.

"I rather doubt that I-" Aster started. "Hold up. Did you say…handle?" Aster knelt down by what Hannah tripped over, examining it.

"Trust me. I whacked it hard enough to know what it felt like." Aster wasn't paying any attention to Hannah, and was easing the object out of the ground. Eventually, it emerged, but Aster ended up dropping it again in shock.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked. Hassleberry glanced over Aster's shoulder.

"Sam Hill! It's an axe!"

"What?" Jesse exclaimed.

"Is that…dried blood on the blade?" Chloe pointed out.

"It's probably nothing, sister" Melody reassured.

"She's right. M-m-maybe its just paint" Syrus stuttered.

"Nope. It's definitely blood" Jaden confirmed.

"Oh, real helpful, Jaden. It's not like we're bugging out here!" Hannah said sarcastically.

"Urgh, I'm beat from chopping" A voice said. Hannah looked around for the source.

"Did you hear that?" Hannah said

"Hear what?" Hassleberry said.

"I thought I heard…never mind. It's probably my imagination."

"It certainly wasn't pretty cutting into their backs. Oh well, at least the job's done" The voice said again.

"Okay, that time it wasn't my imagination."

"Where'd Aster go?" Jaden said.

"Come on, you guys." Aster yelled from down the path. Everyone turned and noticed Aster running down the path.

"He heard it as well?" Jesse said.

"Eh…must be a phoenix warrior thing." Hassleberry said with a shrug. Everyone ran down the path, with Jaden holding Hannah's wrist. Eventually, they stopped in the middle of the path.

"It's from over there. Time to get some answers about Daisy." Aster said. His hand was over his water horn, but nothing came out.

"What the-" Aster started. "Oh yeah, that's right. My fight with Ember." Aster glanced at a bunch of creepers dangling down from a tree, stained with blood of course. He remembered the wet hand from Domino Cemetery, and an idea came to mind. "Well, plants are ninety percent water" He said with a shrug. He got ready to perform a technique, and drew the water from the creepers, making them turn black with lack of water. A long tendril of water rose up above Aster's head, supported by Aster's right palm.

"Syrus, get your sword out, I'll need your help." Syrus looked surprised, but got his sword out all the same, stumbling a bit due to the weight.

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Syrus asked.

"We're gonna cut through that" Aster said, indicating the trees, but not dropping his tendril. "Like this." Aster used the tendril to cut through the trees, causing about five of them to fall.

"Okay, but couldn't we just walk through it?" Syrus asked, but as soon as his grey eyes saw how thick the woods were, he shook his head. "Never mind".

"Okay everybody, stay behind us" Aster said over his shoulder. Syrus used his sword to cut through a couple of trees effortlessly. Aster, however, took down five times as many with his water whip, leaving all the trees dripping wet. Whilst the two of them were slicing the woods down, the rest walked behind them.

"Aster's pretty good. He sure will be fun to teach" Chloe said, observing a tree trunk he'd just cut.

"Nearly there" Syrus yelled, cutting through an extremely thick tree trunk. Aster blasted away the rest of the trees with his water tendril and ran into the clearing.

"Give up if you know what's good for ya!" Aster yelled. However, his fierce expression became rather embarrassed. A wood cutter of around 60 years old was standing in the clearing terrified, with a case opened filled with axes. "Oh…" Aster started. He dropped his water onto the ground. "I'm sorry. We thought you were…someone else"

"Won't happen again." Jaden said brightly, giving the man one of his famous peace signs.

"Oh, that's quite alright" said the woodcutter, his voice a thick country accent. "At least you got a job done for me, cutting down all those trees. My name's Mike" As the man spoke, Hannah narrowed her blind blue eyes suspiciously.

"Glad to help out" Jesse said laughing.

"You haven't seen any big gothic castles anywhere out of interest, have you?" Chloe asked.

"Uh…'fraid not, fellas." Mike said nervously, glancing around him. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm kinda busy." He turned back to his case. "I seem to be missing an axe." Hannah eyes widened after the last sentence.

"Well we saw an axe back over there if that's any-" Hassleberry started.

"Wait a minute, it was you. You were in my cousin's dream." Hannah exclaimed, pointing at Mike, who took two steps backwards in surprise.

"How can you be sure?" Melody asked.

"I never forget a voice" Hannah answered. "Besides, the axe was, supposedly covered with blood, and there just so happens to be blood on the trees. Coincidence? I think not"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Mike said, but he started to get frightened. Aster glared at Mike angrily.

"Did you see a girl with black and purple hair?" Aster snapped.

"Well, yes but I don't see how-" Aster took a step forward.

"And a guy in a red shirt who looks like me?"

"Yes but-Hey!" Mike was interrupted when Aster pinned him by the shoulder to a tree, his blue eyes flaring with anger and insanity.

"Where are they?" Aster demanded.

"Aster, take it easy" Jesse said

"Answer me!" Aster yelled into Mike's face, ignoring Jesse completely.

"Cool it, Private!" Hassleberry said.

"I'll ask you one more time. WHERE ARE THEY?" Aster shouted.

"I…I…" Mike stuttered, but Aster punched him across the face angrily. Mike fell onto the floor and stared up at Aster.

"Aster, you shouldn't have done that" Chloe said, horrified.

"Talk or loose teeth" Aster snapped.

"I don't know anything about-"

"You're lying. I heard you say that you cut into someone" Hannah said.

"You did WHAT!" Aster shouted, enraged. Aster blinked, and his eyes weren't blue anymore. Once again, they were glowing white, and Aster's hair blew around his angry face. The water he had dropped onto the floor picked up and spun around Aster in a sphere. The sphere suddenly expanded and destroyed tonnes of acres of trees.

"I'm sorry! Please, show mercy!" Mike begged.

"Tell me where Daisy is!" Aster demanded in an unearthly voice. His voice was almost like a demon, but somewhere in the demonic tonnes was his own voice.

"I had to take some of their blood to trick you and invade your dreams. They're probably back at the castle by now. They're okay, I swear it. Kagehoshi blackmailed me. I'll even help you get there, just please, spare my life. You'll destroy this entire forest if you're not careful,"

"Hear that, Aster? They're alive. You can calm down now." Hannah yelled. Aster ignored her, and wind spun around him, filled with green and blue energy. The wind picked up and formed a small tornado.

"But he can't control air. How is he doing that?" Melody shouted over the roar of the wind.

"He must be really angry." Hassleberry said.

"Just get out of here. Run!" Jaden yelled, grabbing Hannah by the shoulders and pulling her away from Aster. Melody ran towards Mike, helped him up and ran back to the others, who were trying to get as far away from Aster as possible. By now, Aster's anger was at its peak. The wind was so powerful, trees collapsed around the forest when they crossed paths with the wind. Aster's hair blew upwards as he started to slowly lift off the ground. The gang shielded themselves from the wind and the dust blowing around the ground. Jaden looked up at Aster sadly. Without thinking, he ran towards Aster.

"Jaden!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Is he nuts?!" Syrus yelled. Jaden reached Aster and grabbed his right wrist. Aster looked down with a face filled with anger and hate, only to be met with a sad expression from Jaden. The brunette grabbed Aster by both of his wrists, pulled him back to the ground and hugged him by the shoulders. The wind grew more and more powerful, and more trees collapsed with the force. However, some members of the gang stopped shielding themselves.

"The wind's dying down." Melody said. Aster expression was still enraged, and Jaden was trying desperately hard not to let go of him. Aster's face calmed down, and the wind stopped almost immediately. Everybody brought their hands down from shielding themselves and looked at Jaden and Aster. Aster's eyes were their normal blue colour again. He looked up at Jaden.

"What happened?" He asked. Jaden looked away, afraid to answer. Aster pulled himself away from Jaden, stumbling slightly. He looked at the others, who were slightly shaken from what had happened. Aster looked ahead of him and gasped. Trees had fallen all over the forest, making the clearing ten times its original size. Aster began to walk backwards in shock. He gasped, looked at his hands, and they clutched his head as he fell onto his knees, his entire body trembling.

"What's happening to me? I'm…I'm becoming a monster. Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel so…angry?" Aster said. Jaden kneeled down beside Aster and placed a hand on his shoulder

"It wouldn't have done any good keeping it in. You had to let your anger out somehow." He reassured.

"Tell me, Jaden. Was I like this facing Ember?" Aster asked, not looking at Jaden.

"Yes…you were" Jaden answered quietly. Aster was shocked beyond anything. He turned away from Jaden with his eyes squeezed shut. "I'm not saying that the weird glowy state is a bad thing" Jaden started. "I'm saying that it can be helpful. Without it, you wouldn't have defeated Ember. Maybe it can help defeat Kagehoshi as well" Jaden smiled after he said this. Aster looked up at Jaden in surprise.

"C'mon. Let's go" Jaden said, helping Aster up, his hands still on his shoulders. Everyone ran towards Aster.

"You okay?" Jesse asked.

"I'm fine" Aster answered. He moved away from Jaden and towards Mike. Mike stepped backwards, for fear he might do something else.

"Listen, I'm sorry about how I acted." Aster apologised, surprising Mike. "I know I shouldn't have acted like that, nearly destroying this forest, and I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, but I've been apart from the people I love for too long. I was just so angry that I couldn't think straight. I know that Kagehoshi blackmailed you to trick me into thinking that you did something horrible to Daisy and my father, and it's not your fault. I guess this proves that Kagehoshi really is a psychopath. Kagehoshi will regret the day she messed with me, but I can't stand thinking that something happened to you just for her own personal gain. I've had my fair share with Sartorius, but using it on someone else is another thing." Aster looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry about what happened. I hope you can forgive me." Mike looked surprised at what Aster had just said, but he regained his composure and smiled.

"No problem, sonny." Aster looked up at Mike, his blue eyes shining sadly. "Kagehoshi captured my family and she told me that unless I don't do as she said, she'd kill them. I had no choice."

"Don't worry old man. We'll rescue 'em." Hassleberry said.

"Just tell us where Kagehoshi is, and you'll have your family back in no time." Syrus said. Mike nodded.

"Her castle is down the path for twenty five miles, turn right at a fork and carry straight on until you come to a light. You can't miss it." Mike said.

"Thanks. C'mon, guys." Jaden said, and began walking off, the others following. Aster rubbed his head, trying to get the dizziness out of it from his attack and began to walk off.

"Hey, sonny." Mike said, stopping Aster. "I noticed you were a water manipulator. That's some fine skills you got there"

"Well, I guess I am kinda good" Aster said.

"But it'll take a lot more water than that horn you've got to defeat Kagehoshi." Mike pointed out. Aster looked at his horn.

"Yeah, it is pretty tiny." Mike walked up to Aster and slung a water skin, which had wound down his back from his right shoulder until the point reached his left hip, over his shoulder. He held it up to Aster.

"Take this." Aster looked at it surprised. "It's already full, and it provides a lot more water than that thing you've got there." Aster took the skin and slung over his own shoulder.

"You sure about this?" Aster asked.

"No, I insist. You're going to need all the fightin' you can handle to defeat that bitch." Aster checked the stopper was in properly and smiled at Mike.

"Thanks, dude." Aster said, and ran off to catch up with the others. Mike watched him run off.

"Good luck, sonny." He said, and walked back through the debris of trees with his case of axes.

**TA DA! I think I may have added a bit of a heroshipping moment in that chapter, but let me know what you think folks. More coming up!**


	13. Chapter 13: Confessions in the Moonlight

Here's the next chapter

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry if it took so long. School is evil! I had to write a freakin' essay! Anyways, hope u like it!**

Chapter 13

Confessions in the Moonlight

"Hey, guys. Wait up!" Aster yelled as he ran to catch up with the others. Everyone turned to Aster, just as he leaped over a fallen tree trunk.

"Where've you been then? We were hoping you'd know which fork to turn at, because we've just plum forgotten." Jaden said cheerfully.

"One: it's the right fork. Two: Mike wanted to give me something." Aster answered.

"Ohhh. What did he give you then?" Melody chirped, looking around Aster for anything new. Eventually, she came across the black and brown striped water skin.

"Mike figured I needed something bigger to fight with." Aster removed his water horn and tossed it to Chloe. "Present for you, Chloe. Come on let's go" Aster began to walk down the right fork, but nobody else followed.

"Aster, didn't James give you that?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I just thought that…since your Dad's been kidnapped and all, you wouldn't want to loose it." Aster stopped walking, but he didn't turn around.

"He gave me this" Aster said without turning round and showing his manacle. "Isn't that enough?"

"He gave us weapons too" Jesse said.

"You can't abandon an old weapon of battle, Private" Hassleberry pointed out.

"Look, I don't time for this. Let's just get going, alright?" Aster snapped and walked off into the gloom of the forest. Everybody looked at each other before following rather nervously. Jaden hesitated for a moment, looking at Aster.

_I never thought Aster would abandon a gift from his dad as if it were nothing. It's_ _almost as if he's stopped caring about James completely. _Jaden thought.

"Hey Jaden! Hurry up!" Jesse's southern accent yelled, snapping Jaden out of his daydream.

"Or do we have to drag you all the way there!" Chloe joked.

"Coming!" Jaden shouted back, running through the darkness.

…

"Are we there yet?" Syrus moaned.

"Don't worry, Syrus. I think its right around…here!" Chloe said, turning a corner. Right in front of them was a star of white light fitting perfectly in the forest path.

"So that's where Kagehoshi is." Melody said.

"Pretty much." Chloe nodded.

"There's something coming out of it" Hannah said. There was a slight pause. "Atmosphere!" Hannah suddenly yelled, making everyone jump. "Yes! Woo Hoo!" Hannah cheered, dancing around in circles and punching the air.

"Okay Hannah. Calm down." Aster said, grabbing her shoulders to keep her still. "Some of us might not be as eager to go through as you are." Aster turned to everyone else. "Okay guys. You ready?" His response was everyone running through the light cheering, including Hannah, who had somehow escaped from his grip. Aster sighed and shook his head.

"Doesn't anything scare them?" Aster muttered before walking through as well. When he reached the other side, everyone was looking around at the new world, except Hannah of course.

"Ah. Finally" Hannah said in relief, opening her arms wide and spinning in circles. "Real air. Now I know how you guys feel. Seeing without air sucks"

"What is this place?" Chloe whispered. The world they had entered was different from the forest and canyon. The earth was extremely black and was almost like ash, especially when the dust blew across the ground in the cold wind. The trees were dropping and were barely surviving in this place. In the sky, a large full moon filled most of the sky, and seemed to be almost the only light altogether, and the clouds passing over it looked like mice compared to the round, white moon.

"This world is even spookier than the last place we were in." Syrus whimpered, shivering.

"It's where Kagehoshi lives so I'm not surprised." Jesse said. He was trembling a little bit though.

"I'm not scared." Hassleberry said boldly. Suddenly, a howling of a wolf was heard in the distance. "AHHH! I SHOULDN'T HAVE COME!" Hassleberry yelled. Chloe, Melody and Hannah were laughing behind their hands.

"Hassleberry, get a grip." Aster said, sweat dropping.

"Hey, what's this?" Syrus said, pointing upwards. Before them was a large wooden gateway with scratchings on a white board nailed to one of the posts. Melody went to the sign to read it.

"It's says "This is The Snake's Path. Abandon hope."" Melody read.

"Must be a pretty scary place." Jaden said. Ahead of them was a path that seemed to zigzag up and down like thin, uneven hills, with various cliff edges and slopes. It appeared uneven, and occasionally rubble would fall down the edges into the ocean surrounding the pass.

"So that's the path? I would've thought it would be windier, y'know like a snake. Oh well, guess they misnamed it" Syrus said.

"How can you abandon hope in this world? It's almost all we have" Jesse wondered.

"Well, I was taught by my coach that hope can be a distraction, so maybe we should abandon it." Aster said. Melody gasped.

"That's a horrible thing Aster. I'd never abandon hope, whatever the situation."

"Look, hope isn't going to get us through this path, and hope isn't going to find Daisy, so let's just go, okay?" With that, Aster walked through the wooden gateway without a backward glance. "Besides, that sign's probably there to try and scare us away."

"Yeah, Aster's right. We've got nothing to worry about." Hassleberry said cheerfully, though there was a tone of doubt in his voice. Everyone followed Aster through the path, still slightly uncertain, especially Jaden.

_What's wrong with you, Aster? You're different from before._ Jaden thought.

…

"I think we should stop here for tonight." Aster said when they reached a circle of earth, complete with a cliff edge.

"I'm surprised you can tell day from night in this place." Jesse said.

"You're right." Melody said, causing her to get a few confused glances. "Time passes by much slower in this dimension. Back in the forest, it was on Earth, but even atmosphere was different, the time was the same. Here, it's completely different."

"Oh?" Aster said. "Then how long is one Earth day here?" Melody counted on her fingers, trying to figure it out.

"I'd say an Earth day is about two weeks here."

"That's a long time" Jesse said.

"And we've been travelling for about five days so that makes…" Aster muttered. "Ten weeks!" He exclaimed. Aster clutched his head with his right hand "Daisy…I've left her for that long…" Melody placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You couldn't have known." Melody reassured. Aster glanced at Melody, her eyes shining with concern. He realised that everyone else was looking at him concerned, and even though he knew they cared for him, he found it annoying.

"I'm fine. Stop worrying about me." Aster said fiercely. He shrugged off Melody's hand and walked off.

"One of us has got to talk to him" Hassleberry said, looking at Jaden. Jaden took a step back.

"Why me?" Jaden asked.

"You know Aster better than any of us, and he's just been acting…different. Maybe you can understand why he's acting like this." Jesse pointed out.

"Fine"

…

Aster looked across the ocean as he stood on the cliff edge, the breeze blowing through his hair. He knew he shouldn't have acted the way he did, but he was just going through a hard time, as his friends would describe it. Aster gazed at the ocean. Even though the moon was behind him, the light reflected onto the water in a round sphere. Suddenly, the wind made the water ripple over the white circle. Before Aster's eyes, a face appeared in the moon's reflection, and Aster was surprised to see his father's face.

"_My only thought was you, Aster…we can be together again…"_ James voice echoed.

"Dad?" Aster whispered.

"_I'm sorry for lying to you, Aster. Please forgive me…"_ James reflection began to fade away in the waves.

"Wait!" Aster cried, reaching out to the reflection, but James was gone, and the moon's reflection was all that was left in the ocean. Aster squeezed his eyes shut, trying to control his emotions. "Don't go. I miss you…"

"Aster?"

Aster opened his eyes at the sound of his own name, and turned to see Jaden standing behind him. He walked to the edge of the cliff and stood with Aster.

"Thought you could use a little company." Jaden smiled. There was an eerie pause.

"I know why you're here Jaden, so save your breath. You and the others think I've been acting strange and they sent you to talk to me."

"How did you know? Is it a Phoenix Warrior thing?"

"Maybe" Aster teased.

"Okay, stop freaking me out" Jaden said. Aster laughed.

"Knew that would get ya!" Aster said. "Though sometimes I'm not sure if something happens because I have powers." Aster turned back to the ocean. "But I do know why you're here. You're worried about how I seem to have given up on hope. There is a reason. You see, hope never really got me anywhere. When my Dad disappeared and The D adopted me, he filled me with false hope that he'd return. And I believed it. I mean, if you were an orphaned five year old, who wouldn't? But Dad never did come back. I'd never felt so alone in my life. Sometimes, I ended up crying myself to sleep at night because of it. I still do now. But when he came back, that was the happiest day of my life. My loneliness was over. I don't think I've ever been that happy in my whole life. But now that Kagehoshi has kidnapped him along with Daisy, well, I felt alone again."

"Oh…I see what you mean…" Jaden said quietly. He realised something else. "But what about that gift he gave you? Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Not really"

"See? This is exactly what I'm worried about" Aster looked at Jaden confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Aster, what's got into you? In the forest, almost all you cared about was finding Daisy and James, and now it's as if you don't care about them at all."

"I was so upset about losing them, that I just lost it. You saw what I did not once, but twice. I could have hurt someone. I hate it when I let that happen." Aster said.

"But now you're not letting yourself feel anything." Jaden protested. "I know it hurts to hope, and it hurts even more to care but you've got to promise me you won't stop caring." Aster said nothing, and turned around to go back to the others. Halfway there, he stopped.

"Thanks for your concern, Jay." He said quietly, and as he turned the corner, he was gone. Jaden watched Aster go with concern, before turning back to the ocean.

…

Jesse sat on a rock facing the moon. The rock was shaped almost like a bench, and looking at the moon this full used to make him happy. But now, it made Jesse sad. The moon now reminds him of someone he knew.

"The moon sure is beautiful tonight."

Jesse yelled in surprise after hearing the voice. Sitting next to him was Melody.

"Sorry. You sorta scared me." Jesse apologised.

"It's okay" Melody and Jesse turned back to the moon. "Like I said, it sure looks beautiful."

"Doesn't it just" Jesse said. "Y'know, it reminds me of someone I knew."

"Who?" Jesse looked down.

"A girl." Jesse answered. "My girlfriend to be exact. Her name was Selena."

"Selena? That's a beautiful name."

"Looking at the moon reminds me of her. Her name means "goddess of the moon" y'know"

"I see" Melody said. "So where is she now? Is she back home on our home planet?"

"You come from Earth?" Jesse exclaimed in surprise. Melody laughed.

"Of course I'm from Earth, silly. Just a different part of it. A place not even on the map."

"Well that's good." Jesse said. "Anyway, Selena…well…she isn't around anymore." Jesse said mournfully.

"What do you mean?" Melody asked. There was a pause as Jesse looked back up at the moon.

"It all started about a year ago" Jesse started.

_Flashback_

_Jesse sat on a bench in Domino Park, waiting for someone. In his hands was a small red box tied up with yellow ribbon._

"_Jesse!"_

_Jesse looked up and his emerald eyes smiled seeing someone walking towards him waving her arm in the air. Jesse stood up._

"_Hey, Selena!" Jesse said and walked up to her. She had white hair down to the top of her ribcage, but today, it was tied up in two plaits with blue hair bands, although her fringe was close to her dark blue eyes.. She wore a short blue pleated skirt, with a short sleeved light blue blouse decorated with small dark blue polka dots._

"_I'll be going on holiday tomorrow. Isn't it exciting?" Selena said, jumping up and down in excitement._

"_I'm sure you'll have a great time. Where are you going again?" Jesse asked._

"_I'm going to Sri Lanka, silly." Selena giggled._

"_Oh, yes. Sorry." Jesse laughed. He handed her the present. "I got you a little present." Selena took the small box and untied the ribbon. When she removed the lid, she gasped at what was inside. She pulled out a silver chained necklace with a silver crescent moon pendant._

"_Oh, Jesse. It's beautiful." Jesse took the necklace and fastened it around her neck._

"_Glad you like it. I wanted you to go on holiday knowing that I'd be thinking of you." Jesse tapped the necklace gently "My beautiful moon goddess" He whispered, using his little nickname for her. Selena giggled._

"_I love it Jesse. Thank you." She hugged Jesse around the neck and let go a few seconds later._

"_Now you will write every day won't you?" Jesse reminded._

"_Of course, Jesse. Oh, I'm going to miss you so much."_

"_You're only going to be away for a week."_

"_But it will feel like an eternity without you." Selena said. Jesse and Selena shared a kiss together, but a car horn interrupted them._

"_Oh, that's Dad getting impatient. Bye Jesse." She said cheerfully, hugging Jesse before running back to the car with a wave. Jesse waved back to her._

"_Bye, Selena."_

_3 days later_

"_Jesse! Jesse! Wake up!" Cobalt Eagle's shrill voice said. Jesse blinked his eyes open sleepily as he shielded them with his arm as Cobalt Eagle tried to wake him up by batting at him with his wings._

"_Come on, Cobalt. It's 6AM." Jesse moaned, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he sat up. Amethyst Cat appeared lying down like a cat on his bed, her paws on top of each other._

"_Jesse! A cat-astrophe has occurred in Sri Lanka where your friend Selena is right now." Amethyst Cat said._

"_What!" Jesse exclaimed, his eyes wide. After hearing that news, his was wide awake now. Ruby Carbuncle appeared on his shoulder, and leaped down onto a TV remote that was on his bedside table, turning the television on._

_BBC News_

"_What happened many years ago has happened once again. An earthquake has stuck Sri Lanka, and caused a devastating tsunami. We are still finding survivors, but it's still unknown what the death count is. A family originating from Domino City are a few of the survivors. The parents are fine with a few bruises and broken bones, but they have been sent back home with other survivors for medical attention, along with their daughter."_

"_Hey! That's Selena!" Jesse exclaimed, seeing the familiar smiling picture of Selena when she was twelve. "Thank God she's okay." Jesse said, breathing a sigh of relief, but he noticed that the spirits of his crystal beasts had turned away. "Right?" He said quietly. He turned back to the television._

"_Fifteen year old Selena Hopkins was washed away by the wave. Her body was found sometime later alive, but she had obtained some serious injuries. She was sent to Domino Hospital, along with her parents, where we have just received news that she is alive, but in a coma. We're not allowed to interview the parents, for right now only family can enter."_

_Ruby Carbuncle jumped again to turn the television off. The spirits turned to face a shocked Jesse. He was trembling all over and his eyes were shining. Jesse looked down at his bed covers, his green hair hiding his face, and began giving hiccup-like sounds. Teardrops fell from his face and landed on his bed and his hands clenched into fists, grabbing the covers underneath as he cried._

"_No…Selena…" Jesse cried. Amethyst Cat, Cobalt Eagle and Ruby Carbuncle looked at each other, trying to think of a way to comfort him. Ruby Carbuncle leaped onto his shaking right shoulder and nuzzled his cheek, causing her fur to get wet with his tears. Jesse looked up at Ruby, his eyes literally emerald pools, being filled to the brim with crystal tears, and were pouring out down his cheeks and dripping off his face onto his bed. Ruby's eyes were shining, because she hated seeing Jesse cry. Still crying, Jesse smiled and stroked Ruby Carbuncle under the chin. Ruby nuzzled Jesse's hand in return._

"_Its okay, Ruby. You shouldn't be sad just because I am. I'm sure I'll be allowed to see her sometime. I just hope something even worse won't happen to her." Jesse wiped away his tears and got out of bed._

"I did manage to see Selena in the hospital eventually. It was horrible seeing her there, tubes attached to her arms and machines beeping. It was so awful, I cried for hours when I got back home. I'd be devastated if something happened to her. She's been in a coma for nearly a year now, but we haven't given up and pulled the plug on her yet. She will wake up, but we just don't know when. We've all lived on the hope that she'll be okay and everything will be just like it used to, but it's becoming harder and harder to hold onto that hope." Tears fell down Jesse's face as he looked up at the moon again. "I know she's still alive somewhere inside the shell that is her body, but I'm scared something horrible will happen to her while she's in that coma." Jesse closed his eyes tightly to try and stop them from watering.

"Oh…I'm sorry I asked." Melody said. "Wait a minute, if you've got a girlfriend, why did you blush when you saw me?" She asked. Jesse wiped his eyes dry with the back of his hand and turned back to Melody smiling.

"You remind me of her. You've both got the same face and eyes. Seeing you made me happy." Melody gave a small smile as she blushed. They gazed into each others eyes for several moments, before they both closed them and moved closer to each other, but just as they were about to kiss, Jesse turned away, surprising Melody.

"I can't" He said "I feel as though Selena's watching me with the moon out."

"I'm sorry" Melody apologised. Jesse stood up.

"No. You shouldn't be sorry." Jesse said and walked off back to the camp.

In that moment, both Jaden and Melody moved away from their places and walked back to camp, the moonlight shining down on everyone.

**TA DA! Phew! Took me ages to think up this chapter. And all for you guys. Stay tuned!**


	14. Chapter 14: The Snake's Path

**Here ya go! Sorry it took so long, but blame school, not me! So anyways, read, review, favourite, blah blah etc.etc. ENJOY! Oh yeah, I almost 4got! I'm workin' on character profiles for this story, so when they're done, u can check 'em out!**

Chapter 14

The Snake's Path

_Aster wandered through a large forest, with no idea where he was heading. It wasn't like his previous forest with the blood on the trees. In fact, it looked almost normal. Twigs snapped as he walked across the ground, and branches brushed against Aster, but not scratching his clothes. Aster stopped walking for a moment and looked around like he had done tonnes of times before._

"_Where am I? This place is different than before. In fact, it looks almost familiar" Aster wondered. He shivered in the cold wind and light rain and, grasping his jacket to keep warm, walked ahead of him. Within minutes, he came across a clearing in the woods. In it was a large wooden house with a sigh saying "Domino Hostel"._

_A youth hostel? Aster thought. Why am I here?_

_A creaking noise snapped Aster back to his senses. He noticed two people walk out of the building. One of them was a woman wearing a navy blue coat with a hood to hide her face, and some black hair was hanging loose through her coat. Hidden in her coat was what appeared to be a handle, which she appeared afraid to let go of. The other person was shorter and looked around five years old due to their height. They were also wearing a coat, but this time it was a black anorak, and the child was clinging onto the woman's coat._

_Closely followed by these two mysterious people were three women, wearing black dresses with white aprons, showing that they were probably workers of the house._

"_Hey! Excuse me! Do you know where I am?" Aster asked, moving away from his hiding place in the trees and towards the group of people. However, they said nothing, and carried on walking. "Oi, I'm talking to you!" Aster said. Again, they ignored him. "Hey!" He yelled. Suddenly, the shorter person walked straight through him, as did the three maids, surprising Aster. He turned towards the group of people, who were walking towards where Aster once stood before._

"_They just walked straight through me." Aster said. "It's as if I don't exist here. Ah well, this is a dream, so it's hardly surprising. Maybe I should follow them just for the sake of it" Aster ran to catch up with the people. Even though they couldn't see him, Aster stayed hidden in the trees, observing the group of people silently. The three maids had an insane look in their eyes, and Aster noticed a gleam of metal in each of their hands. Looking closer, Aster realised all three of them were holding large knives._

"_Why would they have knives?" Aster wondered._

"_Don't stop walking. Keep going" One of the maids said, her voice dripping with malice._

"_Mommy I'm scared" The child said, clinging tightly to the woman's coat. She placed an arm around the child's shoulders._

"_Everything will be okay, son. Don't worry, I won't let them harm you" She whispered soothingly. The boy sniffed._

"_Okay" He whispered._

"_Keep moving" A maid said. Aster followed the group for quite some time, with the maids occasionally telling them to keep moving._

"_Stop" One demanded. The boy and woman stopped and turned to face them. Aster observed what was going on hidden in the trees._

"_What are you going to do with us?" The woman demanded calmly. The maids glared at her with insane looks._

"_It's all your fault the other guests have begun disappearing." One maid hissed._

"_Now we're the only one's left. And we three are not going to be next. So we're leaving you here with your son."_

"_Mommy, what are they talking about? Did you really make those nice people disappear?" The boy asked._

"_No. They've just gone mad." She answered calmly. "Leave me here, but I'm not going to lose my son. Take him with you. I'm not the one responsible for the disappearances. Sorry, but I don't remember anything that happened."_

"_Don't lie." A maid snapped. "I saw you wonder through the corridors and enter the maid's quarters on the night each one disappeared. Now the guests have gone as well. Your son's probably the same, that why we're going to leave you here for whatever sick tricks you used to consume you."_

"_And if we refuse?" The woman asked. The maids grinned evilly._

"_We already thought of that. That's why we brought the knives." One hissed._

"_Since you obviously refuse..." Another maid said. The three of them raised the knives._

"_We'll just have to kill you!" They said at the same time. The three of them began to advance towards the two people. The two of them stepped backwards away from the insane maids. Aster noticed the woman clutching the handle hidden in her coat tightly until her knuckles turned white. The young boy was trembling with fright, his arms in front of him as if to shield himself. Even though his face was partly hidden, Aster spotted tears dripping off the boys chin._

"_Mommy!" The boy cried desperately. The woman turned, and noticed one of the maids was close to the child. She grabbed his wrist and got ready to strike with her knife. The woman pulled her son away from the woman and placed him on the ground. She hugged him around the shoulders._

"_Are you alright my child?" She asked. The boy nodded under his anorak hood._

"_Shall we run?" He asked._

"_No. We're too far away from the hostel." She glanced at the handle hidden in her clothes. "Mommy will sort this out. But you should close your eyes. I don't want you to see this" She stood up and looked at the three maids. They moved towards the woman. Suddenly, the woman pulled the handle out of her clothes. Aster gasped. The woman was holding an axe. The three maids' eyes widened at the sight of the large metal. With a loud yell, the woman raised the axe and charged towards the maids._

_Aster covered his eyes with his hands and turned away, knowing what was coming up. All he could hear was the sound of the maids screaming, flesh coming in contact with metal and bodies falling onto the wet ground. When Aster thought it was over, he removed his hands from his face and looked at the scene. The maids were lying on top of each other in a pile, covered with blood and cuts over their bodies. Their knives had been dropped onto the ground, not a single drop of blood on them. The woman was breathing heavily and angrily, her axe covered with blood as well as her coat. The young boy had clearly seen what had happened, because he was trembling all over, and tears were visible on the part of his face that was showing through the hood of his anorak._

"_You…you killed them." The boy whimpered. "You killed them!" He said again, but screaming it this time. The woman turned towards the boy. She dropped her axe onto the forest floor._

"_I saved us. You should be grateful." She said._

"_But Mommy. You'd never even hurt a fly. How could you do it? Why did you kill them? Is all that matters to you surviving?"_

"_If it's kill or be killed, then yes. I don't want to die because of something I may have done. I want to live!" The woman snapped._

_The boy took two steps backwards away from the woman, still trembling. "You're not my mommy." The woman hugged her son._

"_Of course it's me" She said soothingly._

"_GET AWAY FROM ME!" The boy screamed, pulling fiercely away from his mother and glaring at her, still crying. "Ever since we got here, you haven't been acting like my mommy at all. You've been acting…like… someone else."_

"_Don't say that…" The woman whispered helplessly._

"_You want to live, you say? You know what I want?" The child said. A strong wind blew through the forest, moving the hood off the boys head._

"_I want my mommy back" The boy said as the hood moved away from his face. Aster looked at the two of them. Both of them turned towards Aster, their hoods away from their heads, as if they knew he was there all along. Aster could see their faces, and he recognised them. Aster took a few steps backwards with a gasp._

"_No…It can't be…" Aster said, trembling. "That…that's me" He exclaimed, looking at the child, who was a five year old version of himself. The woman was, in fact, his mother. The same age as she was in the photograph Aster found in the old house back at Domino._

"_Mom…and me…no…this can't be happening." Aster said. With a flash of lightning in the background, Aster fell onto his knees. "Mom…killed those people…no…" Aster closed his eyes tightly clutching his head. The light shower turned into a huge thunderstorm, with lightning and thunder flashing in the surroundings. The heavy rain got Aster drenched in seconds, but Aster was too shocked to care. "No…" He whispered again. "NOOOOOOOOOOO" He screamed in the storm._

"Ah!" Aster gasped, sitting up, and was met by surprised looks from his friends.

"You okay, private?" Hassleberry asked. Aster wiped away the sweat on his face.

"Not really…" He muttered. Jesse offered a hand for him, and Aster took it.

"You had another nightmare, didn't you?" Chloe asked as Aster was helped up.

"You bet I did"

"Was Kagehoshi there this time?" Jaden said. Aster shook his head.

"This may sound crazy, guys, but…I think it was something from my past." Everyone's eyes widened.

"You want to talk about it?" Hannah said.

"Might as well, we've got a long walk through this path anyway."

…

"And when I looked at their faces, it was my mom and me when I was five" Aster finished as the group walked through The Snake's Path.

"Are you sure?" Hassleberry said.

"Positive"

"Those maids were so psychopathic." Chloe muttered.

"Reminds me of Kagehoshi" Jaden said.

"Why would Aster's mom kill them?" Melody wondered.

"Beats me" Jesse shrugged. "By the sounds of it, his mom must have done something to the guests and workers at the hostel, and she just doesn't remember any of it."

"But what would she do to them?" Aster said.

"Look" Jaden started, standing in front of everyone, causing them to stop walking. "Kagehoshi is controlling Aster's dreams, right? This is probably just a trick to make Aster think his mom's some kind of psychopath who walks around killing people." Jaden turned around and began walking again. "We should just-WAAAAAAAAAA!" Without warning, Jaden slipped on the ground and slid down the slope on his butt, yelling in panic. Aster noticed that Jaden was heading towards the water at the other end of the path. Quickly, he slid his right foot across the ground towards Jaden, making a wall of earth at the bottom of the path, and blocking Jaden's fall. Jaden stood up and wiped the mud off the bottom of his white trousers.

"Look out guys, this path is kinda slippery." Jaden yelled up at the others. Chloe, Hannah, Syrus and Aster weren't being careful walking down the path, and slid across it as if it were a ski slope and having a great time doing it, whilst Hassleberry, Melody and Jesse walked down it carefully, smiling as the people sliding down it yelled and cheered as if it were a roller coaster ride. Eventually, everyone reached the bottom.

Hassleberry lifted the wall of earth out of the ground with his superhuman strength and threw it in the ocean. Ahead, where there was supposed to be the rest of the path, there wasn't any. It was covered in water, and the final part of it was ahead of them by a few yards.

"Oh, great. Now what?" Melody groaned. "The path must be at least a few hundred yards ahead."

"And I can't swim" Syrus moaned.

"Looks pretty deep." Hassleberry said. "Any ideas private phoenix?"

"Nope. I'm clueless." Aster answered.

"Everyone, single file. I've got an idea." Chloe said, stepping forward. After looking at each other, the rest obeyed and stood behind Chloe. She began to part the lake waters, making two small water walls on either side of her. She began to walk below the sea level, and continued to lift the water walls on either side of her. As they all followed Chloe, the water walls began to form a capsule of air.

"Aster, I need your help."

"What should I do? I'm not experienced enough yet." Aster protested.

"Know how to do Tai Chi?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah"

"Well water manipulating is a lot like that. You'll be fine if you know Tai Chi. Now hurry up and manipulate the other end, unless you want us to drown."

Aster nodded and quickly moved to the back of the line to close the end of the capsule. Bearing Tai Chi in mind, Aster managed to manipulate the other end with ease.

"Hey you're right Chloe. This _is_ pretty easy."

"I look forward to teachin' ya!" Chloe responded.

"Yeah, sure. Just stop treading on the back of my heal, will ya!" Jesse snapped at Aster.

"I don't have eyes at the back of my head, y'know. I have to walk backwards to do this."

"This is amazing" Melody breathed. At that moment, a large fish passed the group. It had sharp teeth, was a slimy green and looked rather ugly.

"Hey, that fish looks like Hassleberry!" Jaden exclaimed cheerfully.

"No it doesn't!" Hassleberry yelled from the back. "Right Hannah?"

"I don't know what you OR fish look like, dino-boy."

"Oh…whoops…"Hassleberry said. "Sorry, female phoenix. Besides, a shrimp is what Syrus would look like."

"Who're you calling a shrimp?" Syrus snapped.

"Enough of the fish descriptions!" Jesse yelled.

"One battle at a time, soldier."

"Would you mind arguing later, I'm trying to concentrate!" Aster snapped over his shoulder. Suddenly, a large black shadow passed Aster. Aster turned to see what it was, but it had gone. The shadow passed over Chloe's side as well. She stopped walking, but kept her arms up to keep the shape of the capsule.

"What was that?" Aster asked, bringing his arms down, but quickly putting them back up again after Chloe yelled frantically. "Don't let the wall lose shape!"

"There it is again" Melody said, pointing upwards at the long shadow passing over the top. There was an eerie silence. Suddenly, something huge crashed through the walls of the water capsule, making water gush through the walls and threatening to drown the group. Everyone began to panic and scream as the capsule filled up. Quickly, Chloe made a column of rock rise up from the ground to the surface of the water, saving all their lives.

"Whoa, that was close" Jesse gasped, squeezing water out of his hair.

"Oh my God, look!" Melody yelled, pointing at the water. A long green dorsal fin was circling the sanctuary. Everyone stared at it with growing dread. Suddenly, a head exploded from the lake. It belonged to a jade coloured sea serpent, whose whiskered head was almost like a seahorse, and it's tongue lashed like a whip from it's mouth. The monster gave a deafening roar as it's long neck reared back to menace the heroes.

"Y'know, I think I just figured out why it's called The Snake's Path" Syrus squeaked, pointing upwards at the snake, who gave a shrill scream of rage.

…

Kagehoshi was by her font, watching the snake roar menacingly at the group.

"Indeed, little Syrus. That is the reason why it's called The Snake's Path. Many people come through this path to rescue those I have kidnapped from them. Some of them serve me, and others, well…" Kagehoshi turned around to a large pile of bones behind her.

"Either the snake kills them, or if they refuse to serve me, I simply kill them" She turned back to the font.

"Now then, young warriors..."She grinned wickedly under her veil. "Entertain me"

…

Back at the path, the serpent was arching and roaring down at the heroes standing helplessly on a circle of rock.

"You know about this world, you two. Make it go away." Hassleberry panicked, looking at Melody and Chloe.

"Just because we know about this place doesn't mean we're experts." Chloe snapped.

"Crap" Hassleberry hissed. He quickly moved towards Syrus and effortlessly lifted him up under his arms towards the serpent.

"Oh great and powerful snake seahorse thing, please accept this humble and tasty offering" Hassleberry said beseechingly.

"Hassleberry" Syrus said, outraged. He kicked Hassleberry in the stomach, forcing Hassleberry to drop the bluenette onto the ground again. Without warning, the snake lunged towards the group, it's jaws opened wide. Hannah stepped in front of them and swept an arc of wind on its head, knocking the snake backwards.

"Chloe, get everyone across. I'll distract it." Aster said. He waved his hand over his golden manacle. As soon as the wings appeared, Aster lifted into the air and flew towards the serpent. "Hey, reptile features!" Aster yelled, throwing a green energy field at the back of it's head. The snake turned towards around to find the source of the blast. It spotted a boy with silver formalwear and golden wings. It gave an ear-splitting scream and lunged towards Aster. He avoided it easily, and the snake crashed back into the water. Unknowingly to Aster, one of the spikes on the snake's head scratched across the top of Aster's left arm, making a bit of blood leak out, but he didn't even notice.

Meanwhile, Chloe created a path of ice, which everybody ran across. Whilst urging the others past her, she turned and noticed Hannah was still on the small island, a terrified look on her face.

"Come on Hannah. It's just ice." Jesse called out. Hannah placed her red Hush Puppies pumps on the ice, but jerked her foot away as if it were boiling hot.

"Actually, I think I'll stay on my little island where it's safe." She said, terrified.

"Heads up!" Aster yelled from the distance. Suddenly, part of the serpents tail crashed onto the rock behind Hannah, making her jump onto the ice with a cry of fright. "Okay, I'm coming" She squeaked. She slowly and carefully began to inch her way across the ice sideways.

"You're doing great. Just follow the sound of my voice." Hassleberry yelled.

"It's hard to ignore." Hannah said acidly.

"You're almost there." Jaden yelled. Without warning, the serpent dived upwards through the ice in an attempt to get Aster, shattering the bridge completely. Hannah screamed as she fell into the water, thrashing around helplessly.

"Help! I can't swim!" Hannah screamed.

"I'm coming Hannah" Jaden yelled, hopping on one foot in an attempt to remove his red sneaker. Melody rolled her eyes and dived into the water, swimming furiously towards Hannah, who gave a last cry of help before going down into the water. Reaching the place where Hannah went under, Melody dived down and graded Hannah under her arms. Both of them emerged gasping.

"Oh, Jaden. You saved me." Hannah said dramatically, planting a big kiss on a surprised Melody's cheek.

"Actually it's me" Melody said.

"Oh…well…heheh" Hannah said, fatally embarrassed. "You can let me drown now if you want" She said feebly.

"Aster, everyone's across. You can come back now." Hassleberry yelled.

"I'm trying…whoa…but this guy…ah…seems to have other ideas…eep" Aster yelled back, avoiding various attacks from the snake. "Little help!"

"Chloe, can you make others walk on water?" Jaden asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"I have an idea."

"Today, preferably." Aster shouted. The snake swung his head in circles, snapping his jaws repeatedly at Aster, and barely missing him. Aster made another attempt at flying back to the others, but the snake blocked it with it's tail. Aster flew around to come face to face with the snake. It opened it's mouth wide, ready to strike. Suddenly, a pulsation hit it directly on the head. Aster turned to the source of the blast, and spotted Jaden with his gun out.

"Need a hand, Ast?" Jaden asked with a grin. Aster noticed that Jaden was standing on the water, with blue pulsations travelling across from his feet.

"About time. Now help me get this thing away" Aster yelled. He flew off away from the others, with Jaden running across the water. The snake followed Aster, its jaws snapping menacingly. Just as it was about to dive onto Aster, it felt its body go stiff. Jaden had activated the ice beam on his gun, and was freezing the snake in place. The serpent was immobilised in the water.

"Great job, Jay. Now it's my turn." Aster said. Drawing water from his waterskin, he made it freeze into a staff. He flew down to the surface of the water, letting his wings disappear, and ran over the surface of the lake, the staff inside the water. Aster began to pick up speed and a whirlpool was being created. All the snake could do was roar as it was helplessly swung around the whirlpool, before it flew off from the centre and hit the mountain like path, cracking like a whip in the process. As the snake landed in the water, it swam off, knowing when it was defeated.

The gang was cheering as Jaden ran back across the water towards the others, and Aster flew back and landed on the ground again, the golden wings disappearing once again.

"We thought you were a goner back there, Aster." Jesse exclaimed. "Huh?" Jesse glanced at Aster's left arm. "Hey, you're hurt." Aster looked at his left arm, and noticed that part of his suit was stained red from the wound.

"Oh, yeah" He said, obviously not noticing it before. "Must have been from that first blow." He smiled weakly. "My arm's been bleeding for too long, hasn't it." He said, placing his right hand over it. "I didn't realise…how badly…" Aster closed his eyes "I was hurt…" He finished. He stumbled and was about to fall, but Jesse caught him.

"You okay?" He asked. Aster looked up at Jesse and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a bit of blood lost." He answered casually. Jesse tore a strip of fabric from his shirt and began tying it around Aster's arm.

"This'll patch it up for now" Jesse tied the knot, keeping the homemade bandage in place.

"Thanks Jesse" Aster said. "But I'm fine, really."

"Jesse…"

Jesse turned around after hearing his name, and Melody was standing behind him rather shyly. "Can we talk?" She asked.

"Sure, but after we get through the rest of this path, 'kay?"

"Okay"

…

Sometime later, the gang reached the end of the path.

"ALRIGHT!" Syrus cheered, punching the air as he walked a wooden gateway similar to the one they walked through at the start of the path.

"Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to Kagehoshi" Chloe said. Jesse walked up to Melody.

"You said you wanted to talk to me?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, it's about last night." Melody blushed slightly. "I'm sorry. You see, after hearing about your girlfriend, I felt really bad. We were just talking in he moonlight, and then I-"Melody was interrupted as Jesse suddenly kissed her. After parting, Jesse and Melody looked into each others eyes.

"You talk too much" Jesse said with a smirk. Melody smiled and kissed Jesse, throwing her arms around his neck, with Jesse doing the same thing. The rest of the gang watched the two of them.

"And that's our chilled out Jesse" Hassleberry said.

"Chilled out AND completely mushy!" Chloe gushed romantically, locking her fingers together and bringing them up to her face cutely.

"Somebody PLEASE tell me he came here to rescue Daisy, right?" Jaden said, pointing at Jesse.

"Alright, lovebirds, break it up." Syrus said.

"We've got quite a bit of distance to travel" Aster pointed out. The two of them parted from their kiss and held hands.

"Sure thing, Aster." Jesse said, smiling.

…

Kagehoshi watched the group walking through the land in search of the castle.

"Hmmm…so they defeated my little pet sea monster. But how will they fare against my other minions? I've seen the skills of dino-boy and Aster, but what about the rest, especially the shrimp?"

"Okay then, coolest guy in the group!" Jaden's voice yelled from the font.

"Jaden!" Syrus cheered.

"Aster" Chloe yelled.

"Hassleberry" Hassleberry shouted.

"You lose, Hassleberry" Aster said.

"God dammit!" Hassleberry yelled. Kagehoshi sighed.

"They're just a bunch of idiots, especially dino-boy. But he does have potential, especially after defeating Sekio." She turned to look over her shoulder. A figure was standing in the shadows, a gleam of gold shining their mouth.

"Looks like you'll be getting your revenge, Haru" Kagehoshi said. The stranger smiled, the gold tooth shining in his mouth.

**That's the chapter for ya! Next time, during training, the gang see a new enemy, and Hassleberry has to step into the fighting arena once more. Who will win? Find out next time, only in Captured Flower.**


	15. Chapter 15: Stone Cold Revenge

HI FOLKS

**HI FOLKS! Here's the next chappie, as promised. You know the drill; favourite, review (no flames plz, especially YOU King Eagle. Yeah I'm talkin' 2 u) did I miss anything out? No? Then enjoy!**

**P.s. exams r over! YAY!**

Chapter 15

Stone Cold Revenge

The world can be isolated in some places, but where Aster and Co. are, it's isolated all the time. Hardly any creatures passed by, and the plants were close to dying, if not already dead. In one isolated area, this was where the gang were all settling.

Melody pulled out her wooden flute from her belt and got ready to fight. Chloe, on the other hand, had her back to a cliff, where a small lake was flowing. Using this water, she created water tentacles on each arm, and stood facing Melody. Hannah sat on a rock in the distance, observing the two sisters.

"Watcha doin' Hannah?" Jesse asked, walking up to Hannah and climbing on a rock next to her.

"I'm watching this fight. The atmosphere is especially clear today, so you can say I'm getting my money's worth." Hassleberry jumped down from a rock above the two of them and sat on the floor cross legged.

"Looks like the sibling rivalries never die." He said. "This is a brilliant battle field."

"Actually, this is training" Hannah pointed out. "Me and my cousin have been training for a few days now, remember? I've had my turn at this test."

"What sort of test is this, then?" Jesse asked.

"And where's Private Phoenix?"

"Okay, I'm ready"

"The three of them turned to the source of the voice, and spotted Aster walking from behind another rock, tying his tie around his eyes as a blindfold.

"Why's he blindfolded?" Jesse wondered.

"This is a test to see how we can fight if we can't see. Of course, I don't need blindfolding. I was born blindfolded." Hannah joked.

"But you use air to get around. How's Aster gonna manage?" Jesse asked.

"He controls earth, right?" Syrus said. Unknowingly to everyone, he had sat on another rock next to Hannah, and was munching on an apple. "So he must be able to feel the vibrations if something lands on the earth." Hassleberry picked up a pebble and threw it several metres in front of Aster. No sooner had the pebble landed, Aster made a spike of earth rise up from the ground, shattering the pebble.

"See?" Syrus said.

"Wow. Private Phoenix sure has gotten stronger. That chick Kagehoshi will be quaking in her boots."

"Quartet!" Melody suddenly yelled. Using her flute as a weapon, she used it to slice the air and create a white blade of sound. Aster ducked to avoid the blast. Melody repeated this attack several times. With almost no effort, Aster did a one handed somersault out the way. Chloe threw one of the water tentacles at Aster, but Aster circled it behind him, and directed it back to Chloe.

"Not bad, but try this. Prelude!" A white beam shot out of the end of her flute. Aster dragged water from his water skin, and froze it into a mirror. The attack bounced off the mirror and smashed into a mountain in the distance. Aster stomped his foot into the ground, making a rock move out of the ground, and Aster punched it towards Chloe, who caught it.

"Great job, Aster, visualize, then attack!" Chloe propelled the boulder back to Aster. However, in Aster's place was a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, Aster was gone, so the rock continued on its path and hit Melody directly in the chest, knocking her into the ground.

"Looks like you need to follow your own advice, sister" Melody said angrily.

"Oh, can't you handle a little dirt, Madam fussy britches" Chloe said obnoxiously. During the argument, Aster popped out from his hiding place, which turned out to be underground. He ducked as Melody attacked Chloe with a Quartet attack, who was hit to the ground from the blast.

"You tell me if you can handle the dirt." Melody said, planting her hands on her hips.

"Alright, that does it!" Chloe shouted, picking herself back up. She made a ramp of rock and careered towards Melody, who had her own ramp of sound. Aster stepped backwards out of the way, just as the ramps collided with each other, and making the two girls fall onto the grass with shrieks of both surprise and rage.

"Are we taking a break?" Aster asked, still blindfolded. In the distance, Jaden was hiding behind a grass mound with an evil grin on his face. He leapt from his hiding place and charged towards Aster.

"YAAAAAAH, SNEAK ATTACK!" Jaden yelled with his arm raised. Aster made a column of rock rise in front of Jaden, making the brunette run into it. Aster lowered the rock and turned towards Jaden, removing his tie from around his eyes, so his blue orbs were showing again.

"Jaden, sneak attacks only work if you don't say them out loud" He laughed.

"Yeah, thanks for that." Jaden groaned, rubbing his head.

"Get off me you-" Chloe grunted, whilst the two of them rolled across the ground in a fight.

"Ow! That's my hair" Melody shrieked.

"Good! I was aiming for it."

"Uh…" Syrus started. Suddenly, Chloe stood up and stormed off.

"Get back here, I'm not finished yet!" Melody yelled, stomping after her sister.

"Just leave me alone, Sugar Queen." Chloe spat. She sat cross legged on the ground a made an earth tent above her.

"Sugar Queen!" Melody said. Two stone slabs rose from either side of the "tent", blocking the entrance. "D-did you just slam the door in my face?! How can you be so frustrating?" Melody began pounding on the stone tent, grumbling angrily. At this point, Aster, who had his tie back on, and Jaden had joined Jesse and Co. by the rocks, and were watching Melody's attempts to get to Chloe.

"Should we…do something?" Hannah asked.

"Hey, I'm just enjoying the show" Jesse said. Melody was still grumbling whilst they talked and pounding on the tent "door". Nervously, Jaden and Aster walked towards Melody.

"Get out here, coward! Don't make me use my Requiem" Melody grunted.

"Okay, you both need to calm down." Aster said.

"Both?!" Melody shouted, spinning around quickly to show a hysterical face which was far from calm. "I'M COMPLETELY CALM!" Jaden and Aster stood very still and erect, slightly terrified of Melody, who was breathing heavily.

"I…can see that" Aster said slowly, backing away slowly with Jaden following before running back to the others.

"But what about training?" Jaden asked.

"Today's training is over" Chloe yelled from inside her tent. Melody sniffed huffily and stormed off to a cliff side.

"Wow. That training session was shorter than the ones we usually have." Hannah said.

"It's sibling rivalries, female Phoenix. They do that. Don't you and Private Phoenix have them?" Hassleberry asked. Unknowingly to everyone, a shadow was standing behind a rock, observing the group. His face was hidden, except for a gleam of a golden tooth. The stranger stepped forward, but snapped a twig. Hassleberry heard the noise and looked over his shoulder for the noise. No-one was in sight.

"What's wrong?" Jesse asked.

"I thought I heard something." Hassleberry jumped down from his rock and walked to where the sound came from. "It came from right here" He said, pointing at a rock next to him.

"I'm sure it was just your imagination, Sarge" Jaden said.

"I don't think so, Jay. There's someone here." Aster said weakly, rubbing his head. "I can tell."

"Are you feeling dizzy again?" Syrus asked. Aster nodded.

"That means someone's here." Aster said, glancing around him. "Someone who isn't on our side." He ran to Hassleberry's side and looked around.

"See anything?" Hannah asked.

"Nope" Aster yelled from a distance. Unknowingly to him, a shadow of a man loomed behind the silver haired boy. Jesse spotted the shadow and gasped.

"Aster, look out! Behind you!" Jesse yelled. Aster spun around and faced the stranger. The shadow pulled out a knife and got ready to strike. However, before the shadow could, Aster grabbed his knife wrist, clutched his cloak and threw him onto the ground, disarming him in the process.

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Aster demanded, freezing the metal and shattering it in his grip. The shadow said nothing. "Not much of a talker I see" Aster said, narrowing his eyes at him. "Let's see what's under this cloak of yours." Aster pulled the cloak off and threw it onto the ground. A man wearing a brown waistcoat belted across his chest, long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, beige trousers with multiple belts around his hips, knee high boots, also littered with belts, and two wooden poles crossing over on his back lay on the ground. The man jumped back onto his feet and stared down at Aster.

"My name is Haru." He said, grinning and making his gold tooth shine. "You must be that Aster kid Kagehoshi keeps talking about. She always says how she's always wanted to kill you and other crap like that." He pulled out one of the poles and spun it around in his hand so fast that it was just a blur. "Now I'll be getting that pleasure" Haru began to advance on Aster. Aster walked backwards away from the man.

"Whoa whoa, time out." Aster said nervously, bringing his hands up. "I don't want any trouble" Aster suddenly found himself backed into a rock. Haru stopped swinging the wooden rod and slammed it into the ground with a roar. Rubble and dust went flying from the point of impact. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Without warning, a stone hand burst out of the ground in the form of a fist, punching Aster across his face and knocking him high into the air. Hassleberry watched him soar into the air, and noticing he was falling back to the ground, Hassleberry ran under where Aster was going to fall with his arms outstretched. Hassleberry managed to catch Aster in his arms, slightly stunned by his weight, but recovering quickly.

"You okay, Private?" Hassleberry asked. Aster didn't say anything, and the dino loving duellist noticed his eyes were closed and there was blood running down the side of Aster's head. Gently Hassleberry placed him on the ground so that his back was against a rock.

_Good. He's still breathing._ Hassleberry thought.

"Don't worry. He's just knocked out." Haru said. He pulled the rod out of the ground and began spinning it again. "You, however, will have a fate much worse."

"Urgh. Where the hell are Melody and Chloe when you need them?" Hannah moaned. "That does it, you're going down" Hannah began to storm towards Haru, but as soon as he slammed his rod into the ground, a wall of stone rose in front of Hannah.

"Stay out of this, redhead. This is our fight." Haru snapped.

"You'd better stand back, soldiers. This is my battlefield. And something tells me it's not going to be pretty." Hassleberry said with a smile. "Private Andersen? You'd better pick up Phoenix and get Hannah to heal him." Jesse nodded and made his way towards Aster.

"This war…" Hassleberry punched a fist into his palm. "Is on."

"What's going on?" Chloe asked out of nowhere, making everyone jump.

"Oh, Chloe. Where's Melody?" Syrus asked.

"Still sulking. As I said, what's going on? And who's that guy with the belts?"

"His name's Haru." Jesse answered, walking back to the others cradling Aster. "And he's already got his eyes on Hassleberry. He looks pretty strong. He knocked Aster out with a blow to the head." Jesse placed Aster on the ground so that he was leaning against a rock. Hannah kneeled down next to her cousin and began healing him. Soon, the blood on his head disappeared.

"Wonder why he's so interested in Hassleberry?" Jaden wondered.

"Before we begin, let me get something." Haru said. He went towards his cloak and pulled out a jar. It was filled with water and had a skull surrounded by belts inside.

"EEEK! A HEAD!" Chloe screamed, turning away with her eyes shut.

"That head looks familiar somehow." Syrus said.

"Wait a sec, that's Sekio." Jesse exclaimed.

"That's right" Haru said.

"Why would you have his head, soldier?" Hassleberry asked.

"He was my big brother." Haru choked, close to crying. "And you killed him" He hissed, pointing an accusing finger at a surprised Hassleberry, who took two steps backwards.

"Come on now, I just knocked him out, is all. If you want revenge for his death, go to Kagehoshi. She's the one who decapitated him."

"But it's because of you he's dead. Now I'll take revenge for my brother and kill you. Then I'll put YOUR head in a jar." Haru crouched down and placed the jar on the ground. "There you go, Sekio. Watch your baby brother get your revenge." He stood up and faced Hassleberry with a look of determination. "Shall we begin?"

"Good luck, Sarge." Jaden said quietly. In an instant, Haru began to spin both rods in his hands and slammed them into the ground. Some of the rubble and dust went towards Hassleberry, stunning him slightly.

"Ow! My eyes!" Hassleberry yelled, rubbing his eyes. Suddenly, a stone hand slapped him off his feet.

"Useful weapons these poles. They can stun my opponent, and I can guide my energies into the ground to create weapons out of the stone." Haru said, spinning one of the rods again. "You're finished" Suddenly, Hassleberry leaped off the ground and with a punch, the stone hand smashed. Haru's eyes widened.

"But how?" Hassleberry grinned and held up two fingers in the form of scissors.

"Scissors cuts paper." He said cheerfully.

"Oh yeah!" Haru yelled, slamming a rod in the ground. Immediately, a hand in the shape of a fist punched Hassleberry into the air and he fell onto the ground. "Well rock blunts scissors." Haru finished.

"This doesn't look good" Syrus said.

"Haru's strong. And he looks like a girl." Jesse said with an eyebrow raised.

"Nah Hassleberry will win. He's got his headband remember?" Jaden said.

"Yeah, but he barely managed to beat Sekio, so how do you think this fight will be any different?" Chloe protested. Meanwhile, Aster's eyes twitched and they opened gradually. Aster sat up rubbing his head.

"What's going on? Where's that girl with the belts?" Aster asked.

"Phew. You're conscious." Jesse said, breathing a sigh of relief and helping Aster stand up. "Oh yeah, and Haru's a guy." Aster blinked in surprise, then remembered suddenly.

"That's right. Before I got knocked out, Haru attacked Hassleberry and me. Speaking of, where are they?" Everyone pointed in the direction of the fight. Aster spotted Hassleberry standing up and getting ready to fight again.

"Right then. My move now." Hassleberry said, and began charging towards Haru. Haru placed his hand inches away from the top of the pole sticking out of the ground. Stone columns began sprouting out of the ground towards Hassleberry. One of them popped up directly underneath Hassleberry, and using the force of the column, Hassleberry leapt off the rock and hopped across to another column. He continued doing this until he reached Haru, and with a mighty leap off a rock, flew towards him and punched Haru hard across the face. Haru slid across the ground with blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"Alright!" Jaden cheered. Haru got up on all fours, the blood dripping off his chin. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and stood up.

"That does it, dino-boy. No more Mr Nice Guy." He pulled out both rods and slammed them in the ground in an X. A huge rumbling shook the ground.

"What's going on?" Chloe yelled. The rocks attached to the ground tore away and moved towards Haru.

"This is almost exactly like Sekio." Aster yelled, ducking as a rock flew over his head. The rocks collided around Haru, making a huge cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, a stone golem rose from the ground, with Haru standing on its shoulder.

"Whoa. That thing is huge!" Hassleberry said slowly, taking two steps backwards.

"Finally! I shall get revenge for my brother!" Haru yelled. The golem raised a fist, ready to attack. Hassleberry leaped out of the way, just as the fist hit the ground, barely missing Hassleberry. The shockwave sent Hassleberry back even further, but he managed to land on his feet, with a hand on the ground to support himself.

_This isn't good._ Hassleberry thought. The golem stomped its foot, forcing Hassleberry high into the air. Whilst he was air born, the stone giant whacked Hassleberry back onto the ground. Haru made the golem pick Hassleberry up from the ground and lift him up to his eye level.

"Now I'm gonna kill you and take off your head, then we'll see how you'll like it" Haru laughed. Whilst Haru laughed, Hassleberry glared at him angrily.

"DIE!" Haru yelled. The golem began to tighten its grip on Hassleberry, who struggled in its hand.

"He's gonna suffocate." Chloe exclaimed. Aster watched helplessly as Hassleberry tried to get himself free.

_My friend is going to die._ Aster thought._ He's gonna die and there's nothing we can do to help…No…I'm not losing anyone else._ Without thinking, Aster ran off towards his left.

"Aster! What're you doing?" Jesse yelled

"Saving a friend" Aster answered back, just as his golden wings appeared, and he flew off towards the fight.

"He's nuts" Jaden said, nearly laughing.

"Before you depart this world, here's a word of advice. A good warrior fights only for their own purpose." Haru said. Hassleberry glared at Haru angrily. "You have no purpose in fighting. You're not fit enough to be a warrior." Suddenly, a water whip cut through the hand holding Hassleberry, who dropped down onto the ground as the hand smashed into dozens of pieces.

"Whew! Thought I was a goner then" Hassleberry gasped. Hassleberry stood up and looked around for his saviour. Standing on a cliff edge was Aster, surrounded by tentacles made from water, almost like an octopus. They all came from a puddle Aster was standing on, and four tentacles were on each side.

"You seriously gonna let a mineral deposit kick your ass?!" Aster yelled. "Sergeant Tyranno Hassleberry wouldn't stand for it." Aster gave a small smile.

"Thanks, Private" Hassleberry yelled.

"Urgh! Enough of this!" Haru yelled. With its attached hand, the golem got ready to strike, but just as it was about to his Hassleberry, he caught it effortlessly in his palm. Haru's eyes widened. Hassleberry looked up with a grin. His headband flashed gold. Hassleberry grabbed the golems arm with his free hand and threw it onto the floor, shattering it completely. Haru fell off the golem and landed on the ground, dropping his poles. A falling rock fell onto the sticks, shattering them completely.

"NO!" Haru yelled. "I'm sorry, big brother. I couldn't exact revenge." Hassleberry walked up to a defeated Haru. Haru scrambled across the ground away from Hassleberry.

"Spare me please. Haven't you humiliated me enough?!"

"I'm not going to kill you, Haru. Murder is wrong." Hassleberry said. Haru stared up at Hassleberry in surprise. He spotted Aster leap down from the cliff and land on the ground next to Hassleberry with one hand on the ground to support himself.

"Your right about every warrior having a purpose" Aster said, standing up. "But revenge isn't the right path to take. I followed that path via duelling when I lost my father, and it never did any good. Now I fight for the ones I love." Aster shrugged. "And sometimes just for the thrill of competition."

"Sekio was a good soldier. You should be proud of him, but its Kagehoshi's fault he's dead, not mine." Haru smiled and nodded.

"You two are right. Thank you." Hassleberry clasped Haru's hand with a grin.

"Well, since Aster helped out, this match doesn't count. Let's fight again sometime"

"Yes" Haru said.

"Damn you, Haru. How could you betray me?" Kagehoshi's voice yelled.

"Oh, for some strange reason that voice is music to my ears" Aster said.

"You shall pay for losing to a runt like dino boy." Kagehoshi chuckled. "You're lucky. You're going to see your brother again" Something green glowed near Haru's chest.

"What's happening?" Jaden asked, running towards Aster and Hassleberry with the others.

"This stone Haru is wearing is set to explode" Kagehoshi said. Haru growled.

"You're sick, Kagehoshi." Haru yelled. "Forcing people to work for you against their own will by taking the ones they loved. My brother. My parents. You did that to me so you could have two stone wielders on your side. Now you toss me and my brother aside as if we're nothing, just because we lost to someone or we want to go back to our normal lives. My brother fought hard to save our parents, and he kept winning to keep them alive, but you still killed them." He reached up to his neck and pulled a chain with a green glowing stone away from it. "NO MORE KAGEHOSHI!" Haru shouted, throwing the necklace high into the air, just as it exploded.

"Whoa. What an explosion. The atmosphere went nuts!" Hannah exclaimed.

"I'm taking my own path, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." There was silence.

"Fine. It's your loss if you fail in life" Kagehoshi sniffed.

"Wait!" Aster yelled.

"Don't worry, little Aster. Your friends are fine. Oh yes. And your father wanted me to give you this" A white flash appeared in the sky, and a small brown parcel fell towards the ground. Aster caught it in his hands, surprised by how light it was.

"That's all for now. Ta ta!" Kagehoshi sang.

"You okay, Haru?" Hassleberry asked.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. Kagehoshi no longer has control over me. I'm free. And if it's okay with you, I wish to guide you to Kagehoshi."

"We're okay with it, right guys?" Hassleberry said, turning towards the others. They all nodded saying various phrases like "Yeah, sure" and "Fine by us". Aster was the only one who didn't answer. He was preoccupied by the parcel in his hands.

"Aster you okay?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, sure." Aster muttered, not paying attention.

"What's that you got there? A present?" Jaden said.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Jesse said. Aster shook his head.

"He can't." Chloe said, looking over Aster's shoulder at the parcel. "There's a note attached to it. It says "Don't open until the time is right""

"But…why?" Hassleberry said.

"Hey guys. Did I miss anything?" Melody asked cheerfully, walking up to the group. Everyone scowled at her. "What?" She said. "And who's that girl?" She asked, pointing at Haru.

"I'm a guy!" Haru snapped. Hassleberry laughed.

"Easy there, Haru." Hassleberry said.

Aster stared at the parcel that was just given to him by Kagehoshi. It was wrapped with brown paper as a parcel usually would, with string tied neatly around the small square and the note underneath the string.

_Somehow, I have a feeling there's something important in here. Even though I'm_ _slightly afraid of what's inside…_ Aster looked up at the sky and smiled_. At least I now_ _know Dad and Daisy are okay._

"Hey, Aster. Stop daydreaming and get over here. Haru wants to show you some sweet things you can do with the earth." Jaden yelled. Aster shook his head, awaking from his daydream, stuffed the parcel in his pocket and ran back to the group.

**TA DA! Next time, Aster gets to open the strange parcel, and he has contact with his father. What will James say, and what's in the parcel? Stay tuned! And I MEAN stay tuned.**


	16. Chapter 16: Contact

The wait is over

**The wait is over! This is the chapter that took a heck of a lot of thinking up. It's an important one too. The gang find Kagehoshi's castle, man! Well, enjoy!**

Chapter 16

Contact

"WOO HOO! FINALLY!" Jaden cheered.

"We're gonna find Kagehoshi!" Syrus yelled.

"Well it depends whether we find the castle or not, which is at this rate never" Melody said.

"You're not trickin' us are ya, Haru? Cos' if you are…" Jesse said, reaching behind him for his arrows.

"No no no. Of course not." Haru stuttered nervously. "It should be here somewhere."

"Any luck, Aster?" Hannah yelled towards the sky, where Aster was flying with his phoenix wings in the air. Upon hearing Hannah's voice, he swooped down lower so the others could hear him.

"No such luck. Kagehoshi's got this place well hidden." Aster flew off over the gang's heads. "I'll try over here!" He yelled.

"Couldn't we just go up these hills and look around? They look really high." Hassleberry asked, climbing up one.

"I wouldn't. Kagehoshi has a defence system buried beneath the earth. Especially in the hills." Haru said. Hassleberry stopped walking in mid step and edged away nervously from a mound he was about to go up.

"Well there might not be any defence system here. I can't see the castle anywhere." Chloe said exasperated.

"Can't you see it anywhere, Hannah? After all, you are a phoenix warrior." Haru asked. Hannah scowled at Haru, surprising him.

"What's her problem?" Jesse whispered in Haru's ear for a few seconds.

"Oh," Haru said quietly.

"Anything yet, Aster?" Melody yelled.

"Nope," Aster yelled back. Suddenly, something caught his eye in the distance. "Hold on a sec. What's that?"

…

James sat on a mattress in his dark prison cell. The dripping of water was the only sound heard, and guards paced the corridors of the dungeon and joked with each other.

_How long have I been here?_ James thought_. It feels like I've been here for weeks._ _Months, maybe. And I haven't seen Daisy anywhere._

James stood up from the mattress he was sitting on. Suddenly, he jerked his hand away quickly after feeling a sharp pain on his hand. Blood was leaking from a cut on his finger, and James spotted one of the springs poking up from the mattress.

_I suppose I deserve this though, after lying to Aster._

"Hey! Have you seen my communication medallion anywhere?"

James snapped to attention and listened to the guard's conversation, clenching the bleeding finger in his hand.

"Why do you need it?"

"None of your business, nosey. But if you really need to know I have to contact one of the guards outside the castle."

"Where did you last see it?"

"Along this hallway, near cells 276 and 277 I think."

_277? That's mine._ James looked down to the floor and spotted a gold star shaped medallion with a red stone in the centre lying underneath the gap between the door and the floor.

"I'll check there again." James heard footsteps coming closer towards his cell. Quick as a flash, he swiped the medallion from the floor and stood backwards away from the door. He heard keys jangling in front of his door. The guard was going to come in! James hid the medallion behind his back just as the door opened. A guard was by the doorway, hidden in the shadows.

"Who haven't seen a communication medallion anywhere, have you?" The guard grunted. James put on a convincing confused look.

"Communication medallion?" James repeated. What's that?" The guard sniffed.

"Never mind" He muttered, and closed the door behind him, locking it in the process. James waited until the footsteps died down before bringing the medallion out.

_I heard other guards talking outside my cell that some kids were wandering the lands. Maybe it's Aster_. James looked at the medallion. He realised that this could be his only hope in telling Aster something important.

_I have to contact him._

…

"Hold on a sec. What's that?" Aster spotted a red glowing below, and swooped into a controlled dive towards it.

"What's what? Aster!" Jaden yelled. Aster landed on the ground, allowing his wings

to disappear. He slowly walked towards the red glowing. A rock the same height as Aster stood before him, a small red light shining from the centre. Aster reached out towards the light, tempted to touch it.

"Aster! Get away from there!" Haru gasped. Aster spun around, and noticed that his friends had run up a hill towards him, and were now gasping for breath.

"That's a communication rock. Kagehoshi's guards use them to talk to each other in long distances." Haru continued.

"Haven't they heard of cell phones?" Hassleberry muttered.

"Anything or anyone could be behind there." Haru said.

"I dunno. Somehow I feel as if there's someone familiar behind there." Aster said quietly, turning back towards the glowing, which had died down slightly to reveal a right handed red handprint. "And there's only one way to find out" Aster slammed his hand into the handprint.

"DON'T!" Haru yelled. The red glowing continued up Aster's arm and over his entire body. Suddenly, Aster glowed completely red, and the glowing travelled into the handprint, leaving the hand to look like a cave painting.

"Oh-kay. That was weird." Chloe said slowly.

"Now we can only hope Aster comes out in one piece." Haru said quietly.

…

Aster looked around the new world he was in. Everything was a white glow, with no surroundings or life. Aster was on his own.

"What the…what is this place?" Aster wondered. A red glowing in the distance caught Aster's attention. Gradually, it made the form of a person, fiddling with something in their hands.

"Phew. Thank God it's human." Aster sighed. His eyes suddenly widened. The glowing finished morphing, and the person was James, his own father. James looked up and he spotted a surprised Aster.

"I didn't think it would work." James said, smiling.

"D-Dad? Is that you?" Aster took a few steps closer towards James. He reached out towards James, and was surprised to see his hand go straight through him. Aster pulled his hand away in surprise and looked at it.

"I can only talk to you, Aster. We can't touch each other. Not yet that is."

"It's so good to see you again. Are you okay? How's Daisy?" Aster asked.

"I'm fine. And I don't know where Daisy is. Sorry" Aster frowned in disappointment.

"Wait a minute. Why did you contact me?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay." James looked down sadly. "And if you were still angry with me."

"Come on, Dad. I'm sure you had a reason to erase my memories of Mom. You shouldn't be angry with yourself." Aster suddenly remembered something else. "And one more thing. What's the deal with that parcel you gave me?" Aster fished the parcel out of his pocket and showed it to James.

"Oh, that. It's a gift. You can see what it is now." Aster eagerly pulled the string away and unfolded one of the sides of the parcel. He reached inside and pulled out a slip of paper.

"A letter?" James nodded. Curious, Aster read it.

_Dear James,_

_If you are reading this, then I've already gone. You may have noticed I've been acting strangely over Aster, and I have no idea why myself. It's just like what happened at the hostel. His eyes. They were so sad and confused and angry. I can't stand seeing my son like that. It was then that I realised I wasn't myself. Right now, whatever's taken control of me is forcing me to kill Aster. If you find some way to stop me, anything, even the sound of your voice, I shall flee and never return. Well, not until many years later. When I flee, I want you to erase Aster's memories of me ever existing. I've provided the anti-memory charms. It's too early for him to learn of his abilities, and I don't want him to think his own mother's a killer. Protect him with everything you have, even if it's kill or be killed. I'm not going to let him die. You'll have to tell Aster the truth when he's older, say sixteen years, and give him the gift. I want him to know that I love him with all my heart, and his mommy's still out there. He's my only hope in setting me free._

_Goodbye, James._

_I love you._

_Miranda._

"I…I don't believe it. Mom _wanted_ me to forget about her?" Aster whispered.

"She didn't want it, Aster. She had no choice." James said quietly. Aster looked at the note, and realised it was tear-stained, some of the ink smudged and ruining the tidy handwriting. Aster reached into the parcel again, and felt cold metal inside. Grasping it in his hand, Aster pulled the object out and opened out his palm to look at it. A thin gold chain lay on his palm, with a large golden oval attached by a loop. The oval had a Celtic pattern engraved on the top, and a small clasp was on the side.

_A locket?_ Aster thought. He clicked the locket open. Inside was a picture of his mother, her black hair almost like a curtain across her laughing face, and her green eyes shining brightly. The next photo was James smiling smartly at the camera, wearing his usual red shirt and square glasses.

"I added the next photo." James said. Aster flipped over the photo of James. On the other side was a picture of Aster at the age he was now, smiling happily. Next to it was a photo of the three of them together, with a five year old Aster sitting in between them, and James and Miranda with their arms around each others shoulders. Miranda had two fingers behind James' head in an imitation of rabbit ears. Miranda was laughing at her little joke, whilst James smiled at the camera, obviously not noticing.

"Your mother wanted you to have this. She knew you were going to find out about the truth somehow, so she wanted you to know she'll be thinking of you, wherever she is." James said. Aster said nothing, and stood staring at the locket. "Are you okay?" James asked. Aster sniffed and covered his eyes with his arm. James looked at his right hand. He noticed that it was almost solid, so he reached across and squeezed Aster's hand lightly.

"It's okay, Aster. You must be going through a lot right now."

"No. It's not that." Aster said. "It's just that, even though I never really knew Mom…I really miss her." Aster removed his arm from his eyes and looked up at James. "So she wanted me to have this?" James nodded. Aster glanced at the locket, to James, then back at the locket again. He undid the clasp and fastened it around his neck. The oval fell down to the same level as the knot in his neck tie.

_Mom…thank you…_Aster thought.

"Aster, there's something else really important I need to tell you." James said. "A warning to be exact."

"What is it?" Aster asked. James placed his hands firmly on Aster's shoulders.

"Listen to me. You are in grave danger. So are your friends. Kagehoshi has plans for you when you find the castle. I'm not exactly sure what the plans are, but they involve me as well." When James removed his hands from Aster's shoulders, Aster's eyes were wide with surprise and fear.

"Where…is the castle?" Aster eventually asked.

"You're in the right place. It's just invisible, and only you can find it."

"What, can I turn invisible or something?" Aster asked. James nodded.

"Cool!" Aster said. "Wait, how the hell am I supposed to find it?" James shrugged.

"You'll figure it out." Suddenly, James began to disappear.

"You're fading" Aster exclaimed.

"I know. This medallion only lasts a few minutes. Guess it's reached its limit."

"I guess…this is goodbye, then" Aster said quietly.

"Until we see each other again, then yes." James walked closer towards Aster. He lifted the locket a few inches away from his son. "You know I'm always with you." He said tapping the locket. Aster smiled.

"I've known that all along."

_I remember seeing you…_Aster thought, remembering seeing his father's reflection at The Snake's Path.

"Beware of the chair" James said. Aster blinked in surprise and stared at his father. James began to fade away into nothing. "Goodbye, Aster. I miss you."

"WAIT!" Aster yelled, reaching out towards his disappearing father, but he was gone, so Aster ended up clenching thin air. "I…miss you too, Dad." He finished.

_Beware of the chair._

_I wonder what he meant._ Aster thought.

…

"URGH! He's been ages!" Melody exclaimed.

"Hey, Private! Come out while we're young!" Hassleberry yelled.

"He can't hear you" Haru muttered.

"Er…right" Hassleberry said, sweat dropping.

"That does it, I'm blasting it down" Jaden whipped his ray gun out and began fiddling with it for the right setting. "Hmmm…laser or vibration…" He muttered.

"Looks like you don't need to. Look!" Syrus said, pointing at the rock. Sure enough, the handprint began to glow again until it didn't look like a hand at all. A red beam flew out of the rock and onto the floor, turning into Aster. No sooner had Aster appeared, the glowing stopped and the handprint returned to normal.

"You're back!" Jesse exclaimed happily. Jaden put his gun away with a pout, disappointed that he didn't get to destroy anything. Aster was still slightly dazed from the transportation, but he shook his head quickly to recover.

"Of course I'm back"

"What's that gold thing around your neck?" Syrus asked, pointing at Aster's locket.

"Oh, it's er…it's nothing" Aster said quickly.

"Well by the sound of it, it's definitely something" Hannah said with her hands on her hips. Melody whispered in Chloe's ear, and her eyes widened, but Chloe and Melody managed to stifle a giggle.

"Hey isn't that Kagehoshi?" Melody said, pointing behind Aster.

"What?! Where?" Aster yelled, looking behind him. He glanced behind him, but only saw dead or dying trees and dust blowing across the ground. "Hey wait a-" Aster started, turning around again, but noticed that Chloe was gone. "Where'd Chloe go?" Aster asked. Everybody shrugged, but Melody held back a laugh by masking it behind her hand. Unknowingly to Aster, Chloe had sneaked up invisible behind Aster, and was reaching for the clasp of the locket.

"What's so funny?" Aster asked, an eyebrow raised. Chloe slowly undid the clasp, without Aster even noticing. As soon as the two ends of the chain were apart, Chloe made herself visible again.

"Yoink!" She laughed, pulling the locket away from Aster and running back to her laughing sister.

"What the-hey give that back!"

"Oooh, it's a locket." Syrus said.

"Nice patterns" Haru muttered.

"Go on open it!" Jaden said quickly.

"Who's in here? Is it Daisy?" Melody asked excitedly, opening the locket. "I've always wanted to see what she loo-oh," Melody's grin faded away as she saw the picture.

"Who's the chick?" Hassleberry said, pointing at the picture of Miranda.

"My mother. Now can I have it back now?"

"Your Dad's in here, too. I think there's more, turn it over." Jaden said.

"Okay, big whoop. My parents are in there, now if you'd just-"

"Hey, that's you." Jesse exclaimed.

"There's even a picture of all three of you." Melody said.

"Ahhh, you're so cute at five" Chloe cooed.

"Alright, show's over. Now gimme." Aster said, snatching the locket out of Melody's hand.

"What happened in there?" Hannah asked.

"I saw my father, okay?" Aster snapped, fastening the locket around his neck again.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Haru demanded. "It could have been important."

"He just gave me this locket that belonged to Mom."

"You're lying! I can tell!" Chloe snapped.

"OKAY!" Aster yelled, surprising everyone. "Okay. You caught me." He said quieter. "He gave me a warning."

"What did he say?" Jesse asked.

"He said…beware of the chair"

"Huh?" Syrus said with a blue eyebrow raised.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaden wondered.

"You got me. I haven't even got the foggiest idea what it means." Aster shrugged. "But it will only happen when we find the castle."

"Which we still have no idea where it is." Jaden muttered.

"There it is!" Hannah exclaimed, pointing in another direction. Everyone followed the direction Hannah was pointing in and saw…nothing. Everyone scowled at Hannah.

"That's what it would sound like when one of you spots the castle." Hannah muttered. She waved her hand in front of her eyes with a goofy expression to point out the fact she was blind.

"She's right." Jesse groaned, sitting down on a rock. "We're never gonna find this place."

"Ahem" Aster coughed, getting everyone's attention. "Dad also told me that we're in the right place, but it's invisible."

"Sooo…what do we do?"

"Well, he said I'd know what to do, but I'm clueless."

"Aster, don't tell me you've forgotten that trick I taught you." Chloe said with her hands on her hips.

"What're you…ohhh. I'm so stupid. Thanks Chloe." Aster laughed.

"What's she talking about?" Syrus whispered to Jaden.

"Don't ask me, Sy." Jaden said.

"I think I know." Haru said. Everyone turned to look at him, except Chloe and Aster.

"I heard about it back at my home realm, but I never thought it was real. Only a few individuals have this gift, but I suppose it also runs through the male bloodline of the phoenix warrior."

"What is it?" Hannah asked.

"Why don't you all see for yourself?" Aster said. Everyone turned to Aster, and were surprised to see his eyes had changed colour from blue to a dull hazel.

"The Eye of Illusion" Haru and Chloe said at the same time.

"So…what's it do?"

"It has the ability to create illusion, hence the name." Haru said.

"Not only that, but the owner of this ability can see things other people can't. Whether it's invisible, hidden in the dark or tiny, the eye of illusion can pick it up easily."

"For example, there's a ladybug on that rock over there." Aster said, pointing behind the gang in the distance.

"No way" Syrus said, and ran to the rock Aster was pointing at. He ran back again a few seconds later.

"He's right, there was!" Syrus gasped.

"Right then, time to find this castle." Aster said eagerly. Using his phoenix wings, he flew up to the highest tree he could find. He remained there for a few seconds, with everyone waiting for the location of the fortress.

"Found it!" He yelled down to the gang.

"Great! Where is it?" Jaden yelled back. Aster leapt from the high tree and landed on the ground near the others almost effortlessly.

"It's right behind you" He answered casually.

"Prove it" Syrus challenged, determined to trick him.

"Alright" Aster raised his right hand up. White pulsations travelled from his palm and over the heads of his friends. The pulsations got larger the greater the distance they travelled, until they bounced off something blocking their path. No sooner had the pulsations hit the object, it revealed itself. Standing in front of the heroes was a castle.

"That's some castle" Jesse said.

"Sweetness! We've found Kagehoshi!" Jaden said.

"How did you do that? I mean, I know you could see it, but how did you make it visible?" Chloe asked Aster.

"Dad said I can turn invisible, so I thought maybe I could make other objects visible." Aster said with a shrug.

"Well great. Now can you return your eyes to normal? It's creeping me out." Hassleberry said. Aster closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were their normal colour again.

"Now then. Shall we go?" Aster asked. "Because I'm ready to kick some ass"

"You bet we are!" Jaden cheered.

"Let's rock!" Hassleberry yelled, punching the air.

_Don't worry Daisy…Dad…we're gonna rescue you…_ Aster thought.

…

Kagehoshi watched the group cheering enthusiastically, except Haru who calmly smiled with his arms folded.

"That traitor" Kagehoshi hissed. "Nobody's ever dared to leave me. Well he'll pay for crossing me." She grinned like a vampire under her veil. "They'll all pay." She walked away from her font. "My plan shall finally be put into action." She pulled a communication medallion from her pocket. "Kai" She spoke in a clear voice. A face masked by shadows appeared in the stone.

"Yes, Miss Kagehoshi?"

"Get the guards ready, and round up all my assassins. "They" are here"

"Of course" The face disappeared.

"One down," Kagehoshi muttered. "Mikoto" Another face appeared, but this time it wasn't covered by shadows. A woman with a cold emotionless face and black hair tied back in a long plait trailing down her back appeared. "You'd better get my scientists ready. The test subject is nearly here."

"Yes" Mikoto said. Suddenly, a man with brown hair shoved her out of the way.

"Are you sure we should do this? There are a lot of dangers involved. There's a chance he could die."

"Do you question my orders?" Kagehoshi snapped. "Anyone who questions me pays the price." Kagehoshi raised her right hand up to head height, which was glowing red.

"I…yes. Sorry" The communication blocked out.

"Two down." Kagehoshi noted. "Meno" A girl with a sad face and blue hair appeared.

"Get Daisy up here right now. And bring James as well. I'm going to put my plan into action." Meno gasped.

"I can't do that. I've heard of your plan. I won't take part in it. It's just…monstrous."

"Bring both of them here. Now! If you don't…" Kagehoshi pulled out a remote with a single red button out from her kimono. Meno saw it and gasped, her eyes flinching with fright.

"Okay" Meno whispered. Tears fell down her face. "I'll bring them to you now" The communication shut off.

"That makes three" Kagehoshi put the medallion back in her pocket. "Time to have some fun" She chuckled to herself, until she threw back her head and cackled with mad laughter.

"I hope you're ready, Aster. Because you and your friends shall go through hell!"

**That's the chapter for you. Who are Meno, Kai and the other fighters? What is the plan? What will happen to Daisy and James? Who is the test subject? And what is the chair all about? Keep reading and you'll find out! I'll update ASAP, but my internet's sorta knackered, so there might be…difficulties. But I'll bring it up for you lovely readers as fast as I can. SEE YA NEXT TIME!**


	17. Chapter 17: The Sad Faced Girl

**Hi folks! If you're reading this, then my internet's probably working now. But it might go funny again, so who knows? Anyroad, here's chappie 17!**

**P.S. SUMMER HOLIDAYS R HERE! YAY!! LOVELY LIE INS HERE I COME!**

Chapter 17

The Sad Faced Girl

The gang stood in front of the fortress, staring up at it in awe. It was gothic style, with black turrets, black walls, even the windows were black. There was almost no way to see in or out the castle. It was a huge building, which stretched out for quite a distance, and two large black double doors with golden swirls decorated over it was the only entrance.

"Well, here we are, Kagehoshi's fortress." Jaden said, placing his hands on his hips.

"This is her house? Wow!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"It's three times the size of duel academy" Syrus said.

"Dual Academy? This is bigger than duel and north academy put together." Jesse said.

"Okay, we get it. It's big." Aster said.

"So far from civilisation. Creepy." Hannah muttered.

"We'd better be careful." Haru said. "Kagehoshi could have guards right behind those doors." Hassleberry walked to the double doors. Using his superhuman strength, he pushed the doors open with one arm. A long, dimly lit corridor lay before them, with nobody in sight.

"Looks deserted to me. Let's go! FORWARD MARCH!!" Hassleberry marched inside the castle, yelling "Left. Left. Left right left".

"Is he always like this?" Haru asked Aster.

"You betcha" He answered. Everyone followed Hassleberry into the castle rather nervously. No sooner had they gone past the door frame, a loud creaking noise forced them to turn around. The l rage doors were slowly closing, until it shut completely with a boom for a slam, leaving the heroes in the pitch darkness.

"It's so dark in here. I can't see a thing." Hassleberry's voice exclaimed.

"Oh no. What a nightmare." Hannah said sarcastically.

"Sorry" Hassleberry muttered.

"Hey! Who's grabbing my ass?!" Jaden yelled.

"You mean it's not Melody's?"

"YOU PERVERT, JESSE!" Chloe yelled, and the sound of a fist hitting someone was heard.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Oh, did I hit you, Aster? Oh I'm sorry I'm sorry. Are you bleeding?" Chloe said frantically.

"I can't tell because it's so bloody dark!"

"Idiots" Haru muttered.

"Where's Syrus?" Jaden asked.

"Ow! That's my foot!"

"Oh, there you are."

"Where are you, Jay?" Syrus asked, feeling the air for someone.

"Yeow! You poked me in the eye."

"Well there's Jesse" Syrus muttered

"Argh! Stop pulling my hair!"

"Haru"

"Look, let's just try to arrange ourselves properly." Melody said.

"Good idea. Wherever you are." Jaden said.

"I'm over here"

"Where?"

"Stand to your right"

"Ow! That's your left!" Hannah said.

"Where should I go?" Jaden asked.

"Forward." Jesse said.

"No, backward." Aster yelled

"Don't come here. I'm here." Haru panicked.

"Ouch!"

"Ow"

"Geroff!"

"Who's pulling my hair again?"

"Someone tripped over my legs!"

"What are you doing on the floor Hassleberry?"

"Dunno really. Ow!"

Suddenly, the area where the gang was lit up. Aster had tripped over Hassleberry's legs, Jaden was still holding Haru's long blonde ponytail and Chloe and Melody were in mid shove.

"Phew! Thank God the lights are back on." Jesse sighed.

"Now we can get around without any trouble." Hannah said.

"Wait a sec. There's someone there." Syrus said, pointing ahead of him. Everyone turned to look, and sure enough, there was a silhouette of a small person, whose figure was slightly similar to a girl's.

"The lights are coming on, so we should be able to see who's there." Aster said. Suddenly, the silhouette ran off with a light clicking noise from shoes, and by the time the lights switched on, the figure was gone.

"That was weird." Hannah muttered.

"WHOA! Check this place out!" Hassleberry exclaimed, looking around him in circles. The corridor the group was standing in was nothing like outside. The walls were made of a fine marble, as was the floor, which was decorated with a thin red carpet covering most of the carpet, but revealing a small amount of marble on each side. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, giving a mirrored effect on the walls.

"How can such a scary place have a nice inside?" Jaden wondered.

"Where'd that person go?" Aster said, glancing around him.

"Not sure. But I think we should split up into groups. There are three corridors." Haru pointed out, indicating the three corridors before them. One went to the right, one straight ahead of them and another on the left.

"Okay. Aster, me and Jaden should go down the middle one, Hannah, Jesse and Syrus the right and Hassleberry, Chloe and Melody on the left.

"But I wanted to be with Melody." Jesse whined.

"Why do I get stuck with a bunch of girls?" Hassleberry groaned.

"I'm setting them up with one strong person in each team. It's safer that way, because Kagehoshi could have all sorts of surprises in store for us."

"Strongest, eh?" Hassleberry said with a grin. Chloe snorted.

"You wish, dino boy." She said.

"Watch it." Hassleberry growled.

"We'll keep in contact with these." Haru held up nine communication medallions attached to black thread. Everyone grabbed one each and placed them in their pockets.

"If anything develops, let us all know ASAP."

"Hey! That person's back" Jesse pointed straight ahead of him. Standing in front of them a few metres ahead of them was a young girl. She had short blue hair halfway down to her shoulders, brown eyes, a sad face, black shoes that had a small buckle over her foot and a slight heel on the back and white socks. She had a red pleated skirt halfway down to her knees, a white button up blouse and a pink thin woollen cardigan.

"Who is she?" Jaden whispered.

"She's cute" Syrus chirped.

"Just my type." Hassleberry muttered, love struck. Everyone stared at the young girl, who looked ahead of her with her brown eyes.

"Oh no." Haru choked, taking two steps backwards.

"What's wrong?" Aster asked, looking over his shoulder.

"That's Meno. She's Kagehoshi's favourite fighter."

"She looks like an ordinary girl to me." Jesse shrugged.

"Don't judge her by her appearance. She's more powerful than you think. You guys had better get out of here. Aster will deal with her."

"Haru's right, you should-hey wait a minute. Why me?"

"You're stronger than any of us combined."

"That's all crap! You just don't want to fight a girl." Aster snapped.

"No. That's not it at all." Haru said nervously. "Meno is one of the top five out of Kagehoshi's fighters."

"Besides, you fought Hannah all the time during training, so don't pretend you don't hit girls." Jaden said.

"Don't compare Hannah to that cutie." Aster said, indicating Meno with a rather love struck grin. He turned back to the others with a clenched fist. "They're both completely different!" Hassleberry nodded thoughtfully.

"Besides, Hannah's way too unladylike." Hassleberry said

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Hannah yelled, kicking Hassleberry across the face and knocking him to the ground. Hassleberry groaned in pain, and his eyes were spirals from the kick.

"What part of me isn't ladylike?" Hannah cooed.

"That part there." Hassleberry groaned, semi conscious.

"Just get out of here. We'll deal with her." Jaden said with a grin.

"Good luck." Jesse said, running off with Hannah and Syrus down the right corridor. Hassleberry, Chloe and Melody travelled down the left, leaving Haru, Jaden and Aster with Meno.

"Uh…do we really have to fight?" Aster said nervously taking two steps backwards.

"Don't worry about it, Ast. She doesn't stand a chance against you." Jaden said.

"Be careful." Haru muttered, calmly folding his arms like he usually did. Meno pulled out a communication medallion from her skirt pocket.

"So you want me to…defeat this boy?" She spoke into it.

"Yes. He's supposed to be the best of the nine of them. Show him no quarter of your power. But I want him alive. This is just a test for our…plan."

"Yes." Meno said, putting the medallion back in her skirt. She began to walk towards Aster.

"Come on; back me up here, you two." Aster said looking over his shoulder.

"Sorry, pal. You're on your own." Jaden said.

"That's not fair. You just don't want to hurt her. Well, newsflash, neither do I." Aster turned back to Meno, and yelled in surprise when Meno was standing inches in front of him. Her eyes were shining sadly as she looked at Aster. He raised an eyebrow.

_What's wrong with her? Why does she look so sad?_ Aster thought.

"I'm really sorry." Meno said quietly. Suddenly, she thrust her right hand towards Aster. It stopped inches away from him, but the air whooshed around the two of them and forced Aster to propel backwards and into a marble wall, denting it with a large circular crack.

"What the hell was that?" Aster gasped, standing up and brushing the marble dust off his outfit.

"As I told you, Meno…" Haru turned to Meno, who's right hand had a circular pink energy field surrounding it. "…is one of Kagehoshi's strongest fighters."

"You are correct Haru." Kagehoshi's voice said. A purple sphere the size of a football appeared in the air, with Kagehoshi's veiled face projected in the orb. "Meno is more powerful then you can imagine." Aster ran out looking for the voice.

"Where are you?" He demanded.

"Not for you to know, nosey. I want to see how you get on fighting Meno."

"But you forced her to fight! I can tell!"

"That is sort of true, but she herself desired it. Isn't that so Meno?" Meno looked down at the floor trembling.

"SHUT UP HELL UP YOU BITCH!!" Aster yelled.

"That brat doesn't know any manners. Meno, kill him" Kagehoshi ordered.

"I'm…sorry…" Meno whispered. She outstretched her right arm with the pink energy field. Two pink energy blades appeared around the sphere.

"Oh boy! Not good!" Aster jumped up into the air as one blade extended and crashed into the floor where Aster was standing moments ago. Meno threw the energy blade towards Aster.

"WHOA!!" Aster yelled in surprise, barely avoiding the attack. The blade flew back to Meno again and she caught it again.

"Stop this Meno!" Aster begged. "Why does a nice girl like you want to kill people?" Meno hesitated for a moment, making her blade disappear, and she looked down at the floor.

"Meno…" Kagehoshi said in a warning tone. Meno jerked her head up with a gasp as she remembered something.

"I…" Meno started, squeezing her eyes shut. "…have to." A multiple number of pink energy fields floated around her in the air.

"Why Meno?!" Aster yelled. "What's making you do this?" A pink energy disk appeared under Meno's feet, making her float into the air. She threw her arms forward, making the energy fields fly towards Aster.

"I'm sorry" Meno whispered. "I can't tell you." Just as the energy fields reached Aster, they suddenly disappeared with a loud explosion. Aster had a green energy blade in his hand.

"I'll make you. I know you don't want to hurt me." Meno gasped and took a step back on her disk.

"I…" Meno started. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed, falling onto her knees.

"She's crying?" Jaden said.

"When practising, Meno is extremely powerful. But now, she's only using less than thirty percent of her powers. She's no killer. She doesn't want to hurt Aster."

"Do you know anything about Meno?" Jaden asked.

"Not much. All I know is that she is being manipulated by Kagehoshi somehow."

"Kill him, Meno. Don't forget…" Kagehoshi began to reach into her kimono. A shape of a remote was visible. Meno looked up suddenly, still crying.

"No…" Meno said. "No!" Blades appeared around the disk she was standing on "NO!!" She screamed, forcing the disk to fly towards Aster at an incredible speed. Meno began to fall towards the ground. Aster's eyes widened.

"Meno!" Aster ran towards Meno, but forgetting completely about the disk. The blade flew past his left arm, cutting into it and making blood leak out. Aster stumbled from the attack, but recovered quickly and continued running towards a falling Meno. His phoenix wings activated, and he flew towards Meno.

"Is he nuts?" Haru exclaimed. Just in time, Aster caught Meno in his arms and flew back to the floor, placing her on the ground feet first. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey…" He said in a comforting voice.

"I'm…sorry…" Meno cried, tears falling down her face. Aster smiled.

"C'mon, let's stop this. Kagehoshi's controlling you somehow. But I'll help you, if you tell me what's wrong." Meno stared at Aster in surprise.

"Why?" She asked. "Why would you help a stranger?"

"Aw, you know" Aster laughed slightly. "I can't stand seeing someone cry."

_He's so kind. Why does Kagehoshi want to use him?_ Meno thought. She closed her eyes tightly and wailed sadly.

"That's quite enough Meno. You had your chance." Kagehoshi reached into her kimono and pulled out a grey remote with a single red button on top.

"No don't" Meno begged, running towards the sphere and falling onto her knees in front of it. "Just give me another chance, please." Tears were falling down Meno's face.

"What does that thing do?" Jaden wondered.

"I don't know" Haru said. Aster suddenly gasped.

_What if…_Aster thought, activating his eyes of illusion. He looked at the trembling body of Meno. She looked ordinary in terms of what was outside, but Aster spotted something round which stood out with a white glow inside Meno. He focused on the object, making his eyes zoom in on it. He saw wires sticking out of it, and a red light flashing on it.

"Oh my god!" Aster exclaimed, returning his eyes to normal. "There's a bomb inside her."

"What!" Jaden yelled.

"A bomb?!" Haru exclaimed.

"Meno's power shouldn't go to waste. An orphan thirteen year old with power like that will be perfect in my group of assassins. She refused of course, so I gave her an offer she couldn't refuse."

"That's enough, Kagehoshi." Aster growled, clenching his fist so hard it bled. "Remove the bomb now"

"Sorry. Can't" Kagehoshi sang. She moved her finger over the button. "Goodbye, Meno"

"Jaden, give me your gun. Quick." Jaden threw the gun to Aster. He caught it, and fiddled with the dial quickly until he found a picture of a lightning bolt. He pulled the trigger. Electricity shot from the gun and moved towards the target.

_I hope this works._ Aster thought. The lightning hit Meno. She screamed as electricity went to every tip of her body.

"NO!" Haru yelled.

"What do you think you're doing, dude." Jaden shouted as the electricity died down. Meno fell onto her knees, her body smoking.

"Nice try, but you missed me. Now then, back to business." Kagehoshi pressed the button.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Meno screamed. Nothing happened. Meno opened one watery eye nervously. She opened both of them and looked at herself, feeling around for a mark.

"What?" Kagehoshi hissed, pressing the button again. Nothing happened.

Could he have…? Aster spun the trigger hole of Jaden's gun around his finger.

"Psych" Aster said.

"Er…I'm confused. What did he just do?"

"The bomb looked pretty small, and the circuits were sticking out, so I thought a little electric shock would defuse the thing. Sorry about that, Meno"

"Humph" Kagehoshi sniffed. "That fight wasn't important. I just wanted to test you, Aster. And you passed. You shall come in handy for my little plan." She smirked. "See you later, Hun." The orb disappeared.

"You okay, Aster?" Haru asked, running towards Aster with Jaden.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Aster muttered. Suddenly, he felt Meno hold Aster's left hand with both her hands.

"Thank you…so much" Meno whispered, tears in her eyes.

"Ah, geez, glad to help, heheh." Aster said.

"Aster, are you blushing?" Jaden teased.

"Wait, your wound. It's gone." Haru said. Aster looked at his left arm, and under the torn garment there was no gash, and not a single drop of blood.

"You can heal too?" Aster said. Meno nodded.

"Now. The problem is to get that bomb out of her." Jaden said.

"Oh…yeah" Aster said slowly. "I didn't really think about that. We should just go down this corridor and see what's there. You coming Meno?" Meno blinked in surprise, before smiling and nodding.

"You're not getting away that easily, Meno." Kagehoshi's voice said inside Meno's head. Her brown eyes turned blank. Meno squeezed them shut to fight the spell.

"You okay Meno?" Haru asked. Meno looked up, struggling to fight the spell.

"It's a trap." She said. She dashed to Aster and stared up at him. "Danger awaits you, Aster. Danger awaits all your friends. Kagehoshi shall use you to destroy the people you love." Aster's eyes shined with fright. "No one is safe. Beware. Beware of the chair." Meno clutched her head and stumbled in different directions, before collapsing on the ground.

"What was that all about?" Jaden wondered.

"I think Kagehoshi tried to control her. She's a strong fighter. She must have fainted from the effort." Haru said. Aster ran to Meno and kneeled down by her side. He gently lifted her frail body against the wall.

_That warning again. What does it mean?_ Aster thought. Meno's eyes blinked open.

"He's here." She whispered.

"Who? Who's here?" Haru said. A hooded figure stood in the shadows behind Haru. A gleam of a sword was visible. Jaden spotted the gleam.

"Haru look out!" Haru looked over his shoulder, but was met with a punch across the face, which knocked him into a wall.

"Phoenix" It grumbled.

_He wants me? But what for?_ The hooded man walked towards Aster.

"Kai. Don't!" Haru said. He made a stone wall surround Kai.

"Aster…" Upon hearing his name, Aster turned to Meno, who had her hand against the wall to support herself.

"Get out of here. Don't let the plan be put into action."

"What?" Aster said, confused. Suddenly, a blade cut through the stone wall. When the dust cleared, Kai was released with his sword covered in dust.

"RUN!" Meno screamed. Aster hesitated, not sure what was going on. He could feel his heart speeding up with fright. Kai turned to Aster and began to make his way towards him.

"You heard her." Jaden said.

"Run for it!" Haru yelled. Aster spun around and ran down the corridor as fast as he could. His footsteps echoed off the walls and through the corridor, but he also heard another pair of footsteps. Kai's. Voices echoed through his mind as he ran.

_Beware of the chair._

_Danger awaits you._

_You're in grave danger._

_Kagehoshi shall use you to destroy the ones you love._

_You shall come in handy for my little plan._

_Don't let the plan be put into action_

_What does all of this mean?_ Aster thought. The voices rang through his head with every step he took, with Kai quickly gaining on him. His entire body ached from running, and his heart pounded in his chest. He ran around a corner, practically skidding, and continued running. The corridor was decorated with suits of armour and a multiple number of mirrors. He looked over his shoulder. Kai was just metres away from him. Suddenly, Aster tripped on crack in the ground and he fell to the ground with a heavy thud. He stood up on all fours and tried to get his breath back.

_What does Kagehoshi want with me?_ He looked up and spotted Kai looming over him. Aster yelled in surprise and scrambled backwards away from him.

"I've got you now, Phoenix."

…

"No!" Meno screamed.

"Meno! What's up?" Jaden asked, helping her up.

"It's too late…" She whispered. "Aster's been caught. Her plan shall commence. Aster shall be forced to do the unthinkable. We're all done for."

"What do you mean?" Jaden asked, his eyes wide.

"Kagehoshi shall destroy you all. With Aster, she shall fulfil a forgotten prophecy, and the world shall be plunged into eternal darkness. It will happen today. Unless a hero comes, all is lost." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm begging you, save Aster. If you don't, the prophecy shall be realised. Everything rests with his friends. No-one is safe." Meno fell to her knees. "Please." She screamed. "Don't make the plan happen." She closed her eyes and fainted, but Jaden was there to catch her.

"What did she mean?" Jaden wondered, picking Meno up.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, we should warn the others." Haru said. "If what Meno said is true, we're all in danger. I have a feeling a grand battle shall be taking place soon."

_A battle that will determine the fate of the world…_ Haru thought.

**Whoa! That was a sudden ending. I know, I'm evil! So the plan shall be put into action next chapter. Stay tuned!**


	18. Chapter 18: The Puppet Master

**Never fear, the next chappie's here! I'm gonna reveal part of the plan in this chapter. I just couldn't keep it in me any longer! Anyways, here ya go!**

Chapter 18

The Puppet Master

"Hmmm." Kagehoshi said thoughtfully, looking over her font. "Who shall I send to whom? I know! Mikoto should face dino-boy's crew, and Syrus' lot should-" Kagehoshi was interrupted when she heard a creaking of a door opening. She turned, and a white light emitted from the doorway. Kai walked in the dark room, with a tight grip on Aster's wrists, which were behind his back.

"Let go of me! Get off!" Aster demanded, struggling in Kai's strong grip.

"I have the boy, Miss Kagehoshi."

"Very good. Leave him here with me. I want to show him a couple of things." Kagehoshi said. Kai let go of Aster and walked out of the doorway, leaving Kagehoshi and Aster alone together.

"So it's come to this, Phoenix"

"Couldn't wait to have your ass kicked, eh?" Aster said smirking.

"That won't come until some time. In fact, soon, you'll be doing the "Ass kicking" for me."

"Huh?"

"Let me show you something." Kagehoshi said, changing the subject. She snapped her fingers. A spotlight illuminated in the room over something.

"This is the person you spent so long looking for." Kagehoshi indicated the light. It shone over a wall that was made out of red octopus-like tentacles. On this strange wall was a person. A tentacle was wrapped around their ankles, and another around the wrists. The person had purple leg warmers, white sneakers, a denim skirt littered with glitter and a sparkly scarf around the waist and a purple vest with thin straps. Their head was hanging down to their chest, so they were unconscious, and it was decorated with black shoulder length hair with purple highlights, with parts of it in two small bunches on top of their head.

"Recognise her?" Kagehoshi asked. Aster immediately knew who it was, and he gasped.

"Daisy!"

"Exactly. She shall be essential in our plan." Aster turned sharply to Kagehoshi, trembling with rage.

"What did you do to her?" He demanded.

"I had to drain her energy. Her soul is fine. I've sealed it away somewhere special. It's her body I need." She went to Daisy and stroked her cheek. "Her beautiful, delicate body."

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Aster yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I upset you?" Kagehoshi said, pretending pity. She moved away from Daisy. "Of course, it will take more then a wall made of tentacles for what I have in store for you. You'd break the tentacles easily. No. I need to use something more…interesting."

"Humph. Something tells me it's not going to be anything good." Aster muttered.

"One more thing." Kagehoshi said. She snapped her fingers again. A spotlight appeared over a prison cell. A man sat in the middle of the cell on the floor, his body hidden in the shadows.

"Let him out." Kagehoshi ordered. Two men hidden in the shadows appeared and unlocked the cell door. The man looked up and, seeing Aster, gasped. He stood up and ran towards Aster. The two men restrained him. The light shone on his face, and it was James.

"Don't do it! I won't let you." James shouted.

"Dad!" Aster gasped.

"Shut up, James." Kagehoshi snapped.

"Please, don't! Take me instead. Aster's all I have left." James said, trying to pull himself free from the guards.

"Sorry" Kagehoshi said shrugging. "This is the best bit. Watch" Kagehoshi told Aster. Her right hand glowed green and her left hand held an hourglass. A green glow surrounded James. James fell onto all fours as his body began to get smaller and smaller.

"Dad!" Aster yelled, reaching out to his father. As soon as James was the size of a tennis ball, Kagehoshi snapped her fingers. James body disappeared from the floor and appeared in the hourglass unconscious, suspended by glowing golden threads upside down at the top of the hourglass.

"He's my little Plan B." Kagehoshi said, placing the hourglass on a white marble end table. She looked up at Aster. "That look on your face is classic." Aster's eyes shone with shock, and his entire body was trembling.

"Now for the fun part. Where you come in" Kagehoshi chuckled to herself. She snapped her fingers again. The entire room lit up. It was like a laboratory, with metal walls, windows on one side of the room and various tools lay on trolleys. Aster looked around him frantically, his fear growing. Ahead of him, he spotted a chair with a metal foot rest.

_Beware of the chair_

"What is this place?" Aster panicked. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked behind him and spotted a man with a mad grin on his face.

"Uh oh" The man sang "You should be worrying more about yourself, little boy." Suddenly, one of Kagehoshi's ribbons wrapped around Aster's waist, pulling him away from the man and throwing him into the chair. Part of the ribbon fell of and split into two, each one wrapping around one of Aster's wrists tightly, and trapping him in the chair.

"I would've thought someone like you would be more creative." Aster joked.

"Still confident, are we? Well you won't be soon enough" Kagehoshi said. "Mokuren" The man in the shadows walked out and kneeled down on one knee in front of Kagehoshi.

"My lady,"

"Go to the music room and wait for our guests there. You know what to do," Mokuren nodded, stood up and walked out of the metal door. Kagehoshi turned to Aster, who glared at her angrily.

"Now then…" Kagehoshi snapped her fingers. Various scientists in white lab coats walked into the room and went to a machine each, ready to do Kagehoshi's bidding.

"Let's have some fun"

…

"I don't know what I've been told" Hassleberry sang as he and the girls walked through the corridor. "Er…um…" Hassleberry stopped walking and thought "What rhymes with "told"?"

"We're not telling you. Because you'll carry on if we do," Melody said.

"Ah well…I'll skip it. We are fearless, we are strong," Hassleberry continued.

"No-one wants to sing along," Chloe sang. Hassleberry growled and was about to activate his dino-DNA, but something stopped him.

"Wait. My medallions vibrating." Hassleberry pulled out his medallion and looked at it. "So, how does this thing work?" The red orb suddenly showed an image of Haru, Jaden and Meno.

"Jaden, are you guys okay?" Chloe asked.

"Where's Aster?" Melody said.

"Ah…slight problem there." Jaden said.

"He got taken by Kai." Haru said.

"What?!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"Who's Kai?" Melody asked

"He's a mysterious member of Kagehoshi's assassins. Even I don't know much about him."

"I do." Meno said. "He's a sword master. That sword he attacked us with has a lot of tricks. He doesn't tell us about his past."

"So a third has been taken, eh?" Melody said. "All these kidnappings are linked somehow."

"Oh yeah. And Meno acted all weird. She says Kagehoshi has some sort of plan that will plunge the world into eternal darkness." Jaden said casually.

"Whoa," Chloe said quietly.

"We'll tell Syrus and the others." Haru said.

"But be careful. I think Kagehoshi's going to send Mikoto to attack you." Meno said.

"Wait, who's-" Hassleberry started, but the communication shut off.

"Great, why didn't they tell us what Mikoto could do?" Chloe said exasperated.

"Maybe they want us to find out ourselves." Hassleberry suggested.

"Well, we can now. There's a door ahead of us," Chloe pointed ahead of her, and two black double doors like the ones outside stood in front of them.

"Well, let's rock." Hassleberry said, pushing the door open. The three of them entered the room. It was half the size of a ballroom, and decorated with various chairs. Mannequins sat on these chairs or stood around the room, decorated with different items of clothing, and some were holding swords.

"Aren't those the dolls you find in department stores?" Hassleberry said.

"They're called mannequins." Chloe snapped.

"Welcome"

Everyone looked around for the voice. A woman hung from a chandelier. She leapt down and landed on the ground.

"I am Mikoto. I am in charge of this room" She wore a short red wrap-around dress, with yellow ribbon wrapped repeatedly around her waist. Her long black hair hung in a plait down her back until the tip went past her waist. She wore red ballet pumps with an ankle strap fastened around her ankle. In her arms, she held a doll the size of a five year old that wore a black gown, complete with white past the elbow gloves and a white apron. It had short blonde shoulder length hair and blank blue eyes.

"She's kinda pretty." Hassleberry said.

"Whatever. She's dog meat." Melody muttered angrily. Mikoto giggled.

"Hee Hee. Thank you, mister. Go on Millie, say hi to our guests." Mikoto waved her hand over the doll she held. It moved its head upwards slowly and looked at Mikoto.

"Mi-ko-to. I'm-sad,"

"Whaaa?!" Hassleberry exclaimed. "The doll spoke!"

"It's my talent. I control puppets and dolls." She looked at Millie. "Why are you sad darling?"

"They-came-all-this-way…just-to-die"

"Don't worry, Millie." She looked coldly at the group. "I'll make their deaths quick and painless." Golden strings appeared around her left hand, which weaved in and out of her fingers. She yanked her hand up in the air. "Puppets!" Suddenly, the mannequins began to move. Most stood up and marched to the threesome. Others jumped into the air and walked along the ceiling like Spiderman. "Destroy them."

"Look out!" Hassleberry yelled, punching one of the dolls behind him and smashing it completely.

"Rhapsody!"

Hassleberry turned to Melody. Two white balls of sound were spinning in the air at a fast speed until they joined to make one large circle. She sliced her wooden flute through the ball. It suddenly divided into many balls of sound that flew around the room, smashing anything in sight, including the dolls.

"Duck!" Chloe yelled, forcing Hassleberry onto the floor. A ball of sound flew over their heads.

"Whoa, that was close" Hassleberry said. As soon as all the mannequins were destroyed, the balls of sound disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" Hassleberry gasped, standing up.

"Rhapsody." Chloe said. "One of Melody most powerful attacks. It divides into a large number of sound balls depending on the number of enemies, and flies around destroying anything in sight until all the enemies have either been killed or retreated."

"That's one powerful attack." Hassleberry said.

"No…My-My mannequins" Mikoto said. She stared up at the pink haired kounouchi, who folded her arms with her wooden flute in her hand.

"Kinda old to play with dolls, don't you think?" Melody smirked. "Don't mess with Princess Melody."

"I thought you were the princess, Chloe" Hassleberry said.

"I am. Even though Melody is my older sister, in my tribe, a person who masters all elements rules over our home. Melody is second in line because of her power. Though I master all elements, if we fought toe to toe, I don't think I could ever beat her."

"Let's-run-away-Mikoto" Millie said.

"No" Mikoto said, suddenly determined. She lay Millie on the ground and picked up a sword from a smashed mannequins hand.

"You'll pay for destroying my dolls." Mikoto stood up with the sword in her hand. "I'll kill you."

"Stay out of this you two." Melody said to Hassleberry and Chloe. "This is my fight."

"What do you think, Chloe?" Hassleberry asked.

"I'd let her. You'd get a Requiem heading in your direction if you don't"

"What does it do?"

"You don't want to know. She only uses that attack as a last resort."

"Alright," Melody said. A small white whirlwind spun around her flute. "Ready when you are."

"Let's go!" Melody and Mikoto yelled in unison.

_Good luck, sister._ Chloe thought.

…

Aster sat nervously in the strange chair, wondering what Kagehoshi might do. She was over her font, watching something that was apparently very fascinating.

"So all of Mikoto's mannequins were destroyed…Heheh, this is getting interesting."

"Miss Kagehoshi." A scientist rushed to Kagehoshi, a bundle of papers in his hands. "The test results are in." He skimmed through the papers. "He's rather stressed, but fine. And there are a lot of positive energies inside him."

"Those must be is powers." Kagehoshi said. Aster listened closely to what the scientist was saying.

"The problem is…the energies were so powerful, the machine broke."

"Humph…no wonder I smelt something burning. This is unexpecting. Aster's more powerful than I thought."

"You are aware the subject may be listening, right?" Kagehoshi turned sharply to Aster. He drummed his fingers on one of the arms of the chair and whistled tunelessly, pretending he was unaware of the conversation. "Did you hear any of this?" Aster turned to Kagehoshi and shrugged.

"See? Nothing to worry about. He's completely clueless." Kagehoshi said.

"Hey, I heard that!" Aster yelled.

"How far did you get on the energy readings before it broke?" Kagehoshi asked, ignoring Aster completely.

"Well, it increased to fifty thousand fold, but before it got any further, the machine shook uncontrollably before bursting into flames. We're lucky nobody was hurt. Obviously, his abilities are way beyond what we thought they would be."

"Ha! Perfect! This is going better than I thought! Everything will belong to me in no time!" Kagehoshi began to laugh madly, making the scientist tremble. Aster's eye's widened.

_What's she on about?_ Aster thought. Kagehoshi calmed down eventually.

"Proceed to the next stage." Kagehoshi hissed.

"Are-are you sure? The risks are very high. With the power he has, we'd have to have it at a high level and he could…well…"

"Of course I know of the risks!" Kagehoshi snapped. "And I don't care what they are, so long as my plan happens." Seeing the man's face, Kagehoshi sighed. "Fine. Start at level one."

"Y-yes…of course." The scientist rushed back to the other scientists. "We're proceeding to the next stage. Miss Kagehoshi isn't concerned about the risks. We should just do it, or else…you know…"

"What?!"

"Is she sure?"

"You heard her! Let's just do it, then we can get on with our lives."

"Not so confident now are you" Kagehoshi said to Aster.

"You know you're not going to win." Aster said smiling. "Unlike you, I have friends. And unlike you, I don't rule over them with fear."

"Well, unlike you, I'm not trapped in a chair."

"Oh…yeah. You got me there. But whatever you're gonna do to me, I won't do it"

"Oh, I'm not going to ask you to do it." Kagehoshi moved closer to Aster until their faces were just inches apart. "I'm going to force you." She whispered.

"Personal bubble," Aster reminded. Kagehoshi stood up again.

"Of course, I can't make you do my bidding the way you are now. No, I've got to weaken you."

"The machines are ready now." A scientist said through a microphone.

"Good." Kagehoshi went to her font again. "Begin the next phase."

…

"Quartet!" Melody yelled. Her blade of sound flew to Mikoto, who ran out of the way. More blades of sound were made. Three of them slammed into the wall, but one of them went to the two observers, who jumped out of the way just in time.

"Watch your aim, soldier!"

"You watch it! This isn't precision sound!" Melody snapped. "Serenade!" She yelled. A white blade of sound formed around her flute in a sword. She leapt into the air, and with a neat forward flip, she swiped at Mikoto's shoulder, successfully scratching it. Melody planted her feet on the wall, and pushed off it and backflipped to where she originally stood, facing Mikoto.

"Yes!" Melody yelled, punching the air. "I got her!" She allowed her sound sword to disappear, and looked at where she scratched Mikoto, expecting the garment to be stained with blood, but there was no blood.

_What? Why isn't there any blood?_ Melody thought. She dismissed it quickly. "So, you still think you can beat me?"

"Yes," Mikoto threw her sword onto the ground next to Millie.

"But it's all over for you. You're already my puppet." Mikoto pulled on many golden threads. Suddenly, Melody felt her body become stiff.

"What?! I…I can't move…"

"Right arm up" Mikoto said, moving her finger upwards. Straight away, Melody's arm moved up without any hesitation, with an annoyed look on Melody's face.

"Did you really think I was waving my sword around madly and running away? Well you were mistaken. I was weaving my strings around your body. Now you're under my complete control."

"Damn, this doesn't look good." Hassleberry said.

"Why didn't I see this coming?" Chloe said. "It was so obvious as well. That must be how she controlled the mannequins."

"Now then, what shall I do with you first?" Mikoto wondered. Her gaze fell on Hassleberry. "I know!" She forced Melody to jerk the hand holding the flute out to the side. A white blade appeared on it in the form of a sword. "I'll use her Serenade on dino-boy!"

"Wha-ME!" Hassleberry yelled. He ducked to the right as Melody swiped the blade in his direction.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Hassleberry yelled, ducking and dodging Melody's forced attacks.

"Sorry." Melody said. "This isn't my own will." She continued swiping her sword at Hassleberry, even making a few stab attacks, which he barely avoided. He ducked down onto the floor and aimed a leg swipe at Melody's legs, but she jumped high into the air to avoid the attack.

"This is weird." Melody said as she landed. She had landed in front of the doll Millie. Suddenly, it blinked.

"Huh?" She said in surprise.

"Dino-boy's tricky." Mikoto said. "Hmmm, how about you?" She pointed at Chloe. Melody gasped.

"Sister! Run!" Melody yelled.

"Oh no you don't" Mikoto pulled on more strings. "I did the same to your friends." Golden strings appeared on Hassleberry and Chloe.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Hassleberry yelled. "I can't move!"

"Sister Melody! Don't do it!" Chloe begged.

"Mikoto, if you even harm one hair on my sister's head, I'll kill you." She clenched her hand tightly over her flute.

_Wait, I can move my fingers. If this means what I think it does, I might have an idea._

"Go ahead, Melody, kill your sister," Mikoto pulled on the strings controlling Melody.

"NO!!" Melody yelled. She quickly flexed her wrist towards her own body, slicing the air around herself.

"What do you think you're doing?! You can't move on your own accord." Mikoto said.

"My body can't move, but my wrist can." Golden strings fell around Melody's feet, and disappeared into dust.

"Amazing," Chloe breathed. "She snapped the strings by using Serenade on herself."

"It's over, Mikoto." She smiled. "Or should I say…Millie."

"Huh?" Hassleberry said. "What's she on about?"

"Prelude!" A white beam shot from the flute, and smashed the next to the girl.

"Oh!" Millie yelled in surprise.

"It's over." Melody said. "The identity of Mikoto is…" Mikoto fell to the ground with a thump. "A mannequin" Mikoto's eyes were blank, and her hair just looked like black wires.

"What the hell do you mean?" Hassleberry said.

"I can move again." Chloe said, looking at her hands in surprise.

"The mannequin was just a distraction, and the real enemy is there." Melody pointed at Millie, who scrambled away from Melody.

"How did you figure it out?" She asked. "My acting was flawless."

"It's quite simple really." Melody started. "I never struck a killing blow on Mikoto, but I did hit her, and not a single drop of blood was visible." Melody indicated the rips on the mannequin's costume. "A doll can't bleed. Also, I noticed you blink." Melody grinned. "Humans have to blink sometimes. Dolls don't." Melody kneeled down to eye level in front of Millie. "It was a clever trick, making the doll appear human, and the human appear to be a doll." She ruffled Millie's hair. "You're a good warrior. Honestly, I'm not sure I could've beaten you if I hadn't figured out how to get past your tricks."

"So…so you forgive me? After all those things I did?" Millie said. Melody nodded.

"Kagehoshi forced you to fight, didn't she?" Millie nodded. She gasped as Melody pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, though. You're with us now."

"Thank you," Millie whispered.

"Uh…Melody…shouldn't we get going?" Chloe said. Melody stood up holding Millie's hand.

"Yeah"

…

"So Mikoto lost the fight." Kagehoshi said. "Humph. I expected little from that nine year old anyway. Her name isn't even Mikoto. Why do I keep forgetting that?"

"Er…maybe it's because a certain someone had a woman moment-" Aster started.

"SHUT UP!" Kagehoshi shouted. Aster stopped talking straight away. "Thomas, why haven't you started the machines?"

"I can't, miss, I just can't" A scientist replied through the speakers. A door opened, and a man with short brown hair rushed in. "I can't risk a human life for something like this. It's just so…wrong."

"I had a feeling you'd act like this when I spoke to you with the medallion." Kagehoshi said. "But regardless, you should put your views aside. Start the machines."

"But…Miss Kagehoshi, he's just a child." He indicated Aster. "A young, sixteen year old boy shouldn't go through something as scary as this. Even I wouldn't. He's scared enough as it is."

"Thomas…" Kagehoshi said in a warning tone.

"I'm not doing it." Thomas said. He turned on his heel and marched to the door.

"Nobody betrays me and gets away with it." Kagehoshi said. Flames appeared around her hands.

"NO!" A scientist yelled through a microphone. "MISS KAGEHOSHI DON'T!!" Kagehoshi sliced through Thomas easily, making body parts scatter through the room. They scattered around the floor, parts of them still on fire.

"That's what happens to anyone who betrays me." Kagehoshi hissed. She stepped on a hand, crushing it. "Wander for eternity."

"You…you bitch!" Aster yelled. "That man you murdered was your colleague."

"And he betrayed me. When this experiment is done, I'll expect you to do the same thing to your friends." Aster gasped.

_She's…going to make me…kill my friends?!_ Aster looked down at the floor with his eyes tightly shut.

"Continue" Kagehoshi ordered. She went back to her font.

_Guys?_ Aster thought, as if sending a mental message to his friends_. If you can hear me…hurry…Kagehoshi's gonna force me to do something horrible to you. _Aster felt his eyes sting. _Please…I'm so scared…hurry. I'm begging you…help me…_

**Whoa, what a chapter! Well, hope you liked it. Stick around, because there's still more to come…**


	19. Chapter 19: A Slifer's Rage

**I hate to keep my lovely fans waiting, so here's chapter 19! What horrors await our heroes?**

Chapter 19

A Slifer's Rage

"Come on, Syrus, I can't believe ya still trembling" Jesse said.

"Well, I have a reason to be scared." Syrus snapped. "How can you be so relaxed after what Haru told us? If there's darkness involved, it can't be good."

"Well…that is a good point I admit it, but I'm more worried about Aster."

"It's funny you should mention that." Hannah said. "Because I swear I can hear his voice in his head."

"It's probably your imagination, but just in case, what is he saying?" Syrus asked.

"He says…" Hannah placed a hand on her head. "Hurry…Oh my god, Kagehoshi's going to make him do something to us." Hannah gasped.

"She can be that forceful? I had no idea" Jesse exclaimed.

"Well, think about it. She did the same with Haru, remember?" Syrus pointed out.

"Wait! I might have an idea. If this is a phoenix warrior connection, I might be able to ask him a few questions."

"Sounds like a good one to me," Jesse said shrugging. Hannah smiled, and closed her blind blue eyes to concentrate.

"_Aster, can you hear me? It's Hannah"_ She said mentally. She heard a gasp.

"_Hannah? You can hear me?!"_

"_It must be a phoenix warrior ability. That's why only I can hear you. Are you okay?_ _What's going on over there?"_

"_I'm fine for now. I'm not sure where I am to be honest. I'm trapped in this weird_ _chair, and there are all sorts of machines and scientists with me, not to mention_ _Kagehoshi."_

"_What's she doing there?"_

"_Why are you even asking me? Do you expect me to know everything? I haven't got the foggiest idea what's going on. All I know is_ _that some of the scientists aren't willing to go through with this."_

"_Go through with what?"_

"_I have no idea. Whatever it is, be careful. You'll never know what she might do._ _Kagehoshi already sent a freaky puppet woman against Chloe's group, but don't worry. They're fine. And there's_ _this creepy guy called Mokuren."_

"_I'm sure it'll be fine. This Mokuren is toast"_ Suddenly, she heard the sound of a machine turning on and warming up. _"What's going on?"_

"_I don't know,"_ Aster's voice sounded panicked and less relaxed than before._ "Be_ _careful Hannah!"_ A great crackling noise rang through Hannah head.

"AAAHHHH!!" Hannah screamed in surprise, clamping her hands over her ears.

"You okay?" Jesse asked.

"I'm fine. But there was this really loud static noise before I lost connection to Aster."

"What did he say?"

"He said Chloe and the others faced someone who controlled puppets, but they're okay. And there's another weirdo named Mokuren."

"Maybe he's behind that door." Syrus pointed ahead of him, where a set of double doors. Jesse tried to open it, but it didn't move an inch.

"God, Hassleberry made this look so easy. C'mon, partner. Gimme a hand." Syrus planted his hands on the door and tried to push it open with Jesse.

"Ahem." Hannah coughed. "Stand back. And I mean really back." As soon as the boys were out of range, Hannah reached into her red bag and pulled out five golden sparrows. She threw them skilfully at the door, exploding on contact and creating a huge dust cloud. When the dust cleared, the door was heavily battered. Jesse gave it a nudge, and it fell backwards with a loud creak and fell onto the floor.

"That's the first time I've seen your sparrows in action." Syrus muttered. "I like it!" He said cheerfully. "Let's go!" Syrus ran through straight away, but Hannah and Jesse stayed.

"I can tell you're not going through." Hannah said.

"Well neither are you." Jesse said as a comeback.

"That's because you're not. Why?"

"Well…it's Aster. I'm really worried about him." Jesse said quietly.

"Aw! You know my cousin. He's as strong as anger. Literally…" Jesse smiled.

"Yeah…I'm sure you're right."

"Well, let's go then." Hannah yelled. Both of them ran through the doorway, catching up with Syrus.

"Wait, this is just another corridor." Syrus said.

"Aster's in trouble, so stop moaning and keep running." Jesse said. In a corridor parallel to this group, Jaden, Haru and Meno were running down this one, and both groups were heading to an ending to their corridor, which were both joined together, so both groups ran into each other head first.

"OW!" Everyone yelled at the same time.

"Jaden?!" Jesse said, rubbing his head.

"You okay?"

"We haven't faced any enemies, so we had it easy." Hannah said.

"Lucky," Meno said.

"What's she doing here?" Syrus asked.

"She's a good guy…er, girl. Don't worry. She wouldn't even kill if her life depended on it." Jaden said.

"Hi," Meno said shyly.

"Hey, Meno! Good to have you with the good guys." Syrus said. Meno gasped, and looked at the floor blushing.

"Looks like you got a secret admirer, Sy." Jaden said cheerfully, nudging Syrus.

"Y'know, I think Kagehoshi is making doors a bit of a habit." Hannah said, her hands on her hips. She was facing another set of double doors.

"Sparrow time," Hannah sighed, pulling out more sparrow darts from her bag and throwing them at the door. Once again, the door was badly battered, and fell to the floor loudly. The group walked in carefully. It was dark with barely any light.

"So is Aster okay?" Jaden asked.

"We're not sure." Jesse said. "Hannah managed to have brief mental contact with him, but before she could get anymore information, it cut off. Wasn't it a crackling noise that did it?" He asked Hannah, who nodded.

"Weird." Jaden muttered.

"We can only hope Kagehoshi isn't harming him in any way." Haru said.

"Well, hello there kids."

Suddenly, the lights shot on. Towers of three amplifiers each were littered around the room. A man with brown spiky hair, a red cotton jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, a brown combat belt with tonnes of pockets, a white lab coat and lifeless red eyes was in the centre of the room sitting in a red armchair.

"Ugly," Jesse said.

"Scary," Syrus whispered.

"That's Mokuren," Meno whimpered, clinging to Haru.

"Humph…I wouldn't think a girl like you would betray Miss Kagehoshi." Mokuren sniffed. "Same for you Haru." Mokuren shook his head. "How disgraceful"

"Look, we don't have time for this, so just get out of our way" Jaden snapped. Jesse looked at Jaden with concern. He spotted the brunettes fist clenching tightly.

_Uh oh. Jaden's gonna lose it soon._ Jesse thought_. It must be because of Aster. I've known my buddy long enough to know Jaden hates knowing a friend might be hurt._

"Aw, come on, you mean I'm not good enough for you?" Mokuren whined, standing up. "You're hurting my feelings"

"Where's Aster?" Jaden asked.

"Fifth floor." Mokuren answered. "But you'll have to get past me first. Before we start how about a little music?" Mokuren snapped his fingers. Immediately, heavy metal rock pumped out of the amps at full volume.

"ARGH!" Haru yelled.

"OW! MY EARS!" Syrus shouted.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Meno screamed. Everyone clamped their hands over their ears to block out the noise. Some even fell onto one knee on the floor. Mokuren snapped his fingers again. The music stopped. Everyone removed their hands from their ears, some standing up again.

"Phew! Thank god it's over!" Jaden sighed.

"What?" Jesse yelled. "I can't hear you!"

"I said thank god it's over!" Jaden yelled.

"Geez, no need to shout, Jay. It's just a ringing in my ears."

"That was the first number. You're going to love the next one." Mokuren said. Mokuren snapped his fingers again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

"Urgh! This is even worse than the first track!" Hannah exclaimed.

"See, this is why I hate rock music." Syrus said.

"Wait a minute…" Haru suddenly said. "This isn't music, it's literally someone screaming." Everyone, other than Mokuren, turned to Haru in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Meno asked, trembling with fear.

"Listen," Haru said. Everyone became silent and listened carefully.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

"Hey, you're right." Syrus said.

"Someone's being tortured." Haru said. Meno gasped.

"That voice…I recognise it." Meno whispered.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

"Oh no…it can't be…" Syrus said.

"Aster…" Jaden muttered, horrified. Mokuren grinned.

"Ka-ching!" Mokuren sang. "This song's even got its own live video. Oh you're gonna love this." A black screen appeared from the ceiling and hung behind Mokuren. It flashed to show an image of a room. A chair was in the centre, and electricity was shooting out from it like strobe lighting, with someone sitting in the centre of the lightning storm.

"Let's zoom in, shall we?" Mokuren said. The image zoomed in on the chair, and sitting in the chair, crying and screaming from the pain, was Aster.

"He's just getting a little electric sock. They're running all sorts of tests on him."

"A little?!" Hannah yelled. "I may be blind, but that does NOT sound like a "little" electric shock. A huge one is more like it!"

"Oh god! I didn't even think Kagehoshi was capable of such a thing!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Jay?" Syrus said, looking at his best friend. Jaden's fists were clenched tightly, his hair hid his face and his whole body was shaking.

_Here we go… _Jesse thought

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Mokuren laughed madly, looking at the screen. "CRY! SCREAM! NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU!"

CRASH!

Mokuren awoke from his trance, spun around and stared in surprise. Jaden was destroying all of the amps, toppling the towers over with great shoves, kicking and punching the centre of the amps to destroy them and even throwing part of one at the screen, cracking it and stopping the viewing of Aster's torture. He didn't stop until all of them were destroyed.

"Kagehoshi…" He muttered, his knuckles bleeding.

"You want her, eh?" Mokuren chuckled. "YOU'LL HAVE TO GET PAST ME!" Suddenly, branches burst out from the ground and the walls and wriggled like tentacles. Vines encased the group in a dome shaped cage, complete with gaps.

"What's happening?" Hannah shouted.

"Trapper weeds." Mokuren said, walking to the trapped heroes. "They encase prey in a dome so food can get in, but not out."

"Hannah, do something!" Jesse yelled. "The dome's getting smaller." Hannah created a fireball around her hand and threw it at the wall, without any effect.

"It doesn't burn!" Hannah said.

"I can't cut through it either." Syrus yelled, slicing at the cage with his sword. "There's not a single scratch.

"Hee hee hee! You're finished now." Mokuren said grinning. "I am Mokuren of the earth! Feel my wrath! Huh?" He looked at the group with an eyebrow raised. "One's missing." He looked behind him, and spotted Jaden walking to the doorway.

"What? How-how dare you ignore me!!"

"Mokuren!" Jesse yelled. Everyone turned to Jesse in surprise. "I'm telling you for your own good, let Jaden go." Jesse was trembling all over with fear. "He's not to be messed with when he's angry."

"What?! I'm not afraid of a brat like him!" Mokuren ran to Jaden, branches from the walls and floor charging with him. Jaden stopped walking, but didn't turn around. He reached towards the gun attached to his belt.

"What's wrong Jesse?" Meno asked.

"Why are you shaking?" Syrus asked.

"Jaden never hurts a living being, right?" Jesse said, still trembling "But when he's angry, he becomes really scary."

"I think I know what you're talking about." Hannah said. "It happened with Sekio, didn't it? When he hit Aster, Jaden didn't hesitate to shoot him."

"So you're saying he might do the same to Mokuren?" Haru asked. Jesse nodded.

"And after seeing Aster being tortured like that, he's just about ready to explode." Jaden reached to the dial on his gun and adjusted it to a setting.

"DIE!" Mokuren yelled. Jaden spun around just as Mokuren was inches behind him. He pulled the trigger on his gun, and flames shot out from it, which spun around Jaden like a hurricane, with Jaden in the centre so that he didn't get burnt. The flames filled the whole room up and burned everything into ashes. Mokuren screamed in the flames as he felt his entire body burning. Eventually, the flames cleared. The dome cage was black, and it caved in on the group, freeing them. The entire room was black and burnt from the fire, and dead burnt plants lay all over the ashen floor. Mokuren stood in front of the only un-burnt area, his entire body burnt and black, and he collapsed onto the floor, where Jaden stood unharmed in the only clean area, apart from the circle where the vine cage once stood. Jaden's gun was still in the air from firing. Jaden moved the gun back down and reattached it to his belt.

"Jay," Syrus said quietly. Meno was trembling more than Jesse did earlier.

"Is he…is he dead?" Meno asked. Haru kneeled down in front of Mokuren and felt his burnt neck for a pulse.

"He's still alive, but barely." Haru said, standing up and brushing the ash off his trousers.

"Uh…you okay now Jaden?" Hannah asked nervously. Jaden stared ahead of him angrily, not saying anything.

"Jaden!" Jesse yelled, running to his friend. He grabbed Jaden by his shoulders "You've gotta calm down. You nearly killed Mokuren, and you would've killed us if you weren't careful. Aster wouldn't want to see you like this. He's had his fair share with that glowy dohickey of his." Jesse stepped back from Jaden, trembling again and feeling his eyes sting. "If I ever get angry, does that mean…I'll become as monstrous as you two are?" Meno began to walk to Jesse, but Syrus stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sympathetic words will only make things worse." Syrus said.

"This isn't the Jaden I became best friends with!" Jesse yelled. He fell onto his knees and looked down at the floor. "I don't want you to become a monster. It scares me knowing you can destroy anything at anytime. It scares me knowing I could turn into that as well." Jesse rubbed his eyes with his arm. "I don't want that" Teardrops were visible in the ashes that covered the floor. "I don't want that at all" Jaden's expression softened.

"Jesse…" Jaden said quietly. He walked up to Jesse and kneeled down in front of him. He smiled sadly. "Come on, dude. You don't have to cry." Jesse quickly wiped his eyes furiously with his arm.

"No I'm not. I've just got, er, ash in my eye…both of them." Jaden gave a laugh.

"Look, sorry about what happened. I can tell it upsets and scares you. Guess now I know how Aster feels." He held out his hand to Jesse. "C'mon, we should get going." Jesse took Jaden's hand and they both stood up again.

"I…didn't think you'd be able to calm down like that." Jesse said.

"Aw well, I hate seeing someone cry." Jaden said casually.

"Jay…you're choking me up" Syrus said. "Stop acting sappy."

_Aster…_Meno thought smiling

"_Aw, y'know. I can't stand seeing someone cry."_

_Had good friends… _Meno finished

"Wow! What a mess!" Jesse exclaimed, looking around the room.

"Y'know, it kinda reminds me of the slifer dorm" Jaden said.

"Oh yeah! It does!" Jesse yelled. "Except its tonnes messier."

"And it doesn't have the smell of cats." Jaden laughed.

"So you're normal now?" Hannah asked.

"Course he is!" Jesse said, linking arms with Jaden. "He always has been."

"Now let's get our friends back." Jaden cheered. Everyone began to walk away.

"Jaden…" The group turned to Mokuren, who had sat up from the floor. "I…I wanted to kill you…I know I'll get the chance again…" Mokuren grinned. "And I'll be stronger than today! I look forward to the day I kill you, boy! I-" Mokuren was interrupted when he was kicked across the face by a red ballet pump.

"Shut up, psycho." Hannah snapped. "If you're lying about my cousin being behind this door…" Hannah kneeled down to his eye level. "I'll kill you." She whispered. She stood up and turned back to the others. "Right, shall we get going?" She said cheerfully. Everybody walked through the doorway, leaving Mokuren in the ashen room.

"I hope Aster's okay." Haru said.

"Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine." Jaden reassured.

…

"Mokuren…you failure…" Kagehoshi hissed as she looked at her font.

"Miss Kagehoshi…" A voice said through the speakers. Kagehoshi sighed.

"What is it now?"

"We've increased the subject's pain to level eight. Maybe we should stop for a minute. He's already had thousands of volts shot through his body, and with the level increase he could…well…he could die."

"Keep going…" Kagehoshi said.

"What?! But Kagehoshi, I don't think you heard me correctly. He could-"

"Of course I heard you, you oaf!" Kagehoshi snapped. She glanced at Aster in the chair. He realised Kagehoshi was looking at him, and struggled to lift his head in her direction. "I can feel him weakening. The experiment has gone too far to be stopped. Don't stop, unless you want to face the same fate as Thomas." Silence followed.

"Yes…"

"Actually, let's make it more interesting." Kagehoshi said. "Put the machines on full power."

"You're joking, right?" Aster gasped.

"Oh, believe me Aster. I never joke." Kagehoshi hissed. "Do it!" She yelled. The electricity storm around Aster grew larger until it nearly filled the room, with Aster's screams barely heard.

"Uh…Kagehoshi…we have a problem…" A scientist said.

"What?!" Kagehoshi yelled. "What the hell's wrong?!"

"I think you'd be able to see for yourself. It seems something's…coming out of the subject." Kagehoshi looked at Aster. Her eyes widened as she saw an orange glowing surrounding the chair. Suddenly, a golden capsule shape floated out of Aster and hovered above his head. Feathers were falling gracefully from this strange shape. It slowly and gradually began to get larger, until wings appeared on a great bird.

_A phoenix?! _Kagehoshi thought. The phoenix shrieked loudly in the electricity and looked down at his master. It wrapped its wings around him, and an explosion occurred out of nowhere. Kagehoshi and all the scientists shielded themselves from the blast. Black smoke came from the chair when the flames cleared.

"What was that?" Kagehoshi whispered. With a wave of her hand, she made the smoke clear. The electric chair had been completely destroyed, the huge phoenix was nowhere to be seen and Aster lay unconscious on the floor.

_It seems that phoenix was protecting Aster from that electricity._ She kneeled down beside Aster and turned him over onto his side_. But the other shocks have weakened him severely…Perfect._ Kagehoshi grinned to herself.

"Well done my scientists." Kagehoshi said. "Now I want you to go to room number forty nine. There's some work to be finished there."

"Yes, miss Kagehoshi." A scientist said.

"Now for the next part of the plan." Kagehoshi muttered. She stood up and walked one step backwards from Aster. She raised a glowing purple hand above Aster's body, which also glowed purple. A mirror appeared on a wall of the destroyed lab, also glowing purple. The purple glowing around Aster stopped and another Aster appeared in the mirror, still unconscious and in exactly the same position he was in before.

_That power Aster showed right now destroyed the whole lab._ Kagehoshi thought_. This plan is going too perfectly._ "Now to put a portion of my spirit into this body." She muttered. Her hand glowed white and she placed it on Aster. After a few seconds, she removed it again.

"While Aster's soul is in the mirror, his body is still in this world. Now he shall do my will. Isn't that right, darling?" The body of Aster sat up from the floor and stood up, his eyes hidden by his hair. "There are some people I want you to destroy later today. Think you can handle it?" Kagehoshi asked. Aster looked up. His eyes were now a dark purple, and he smiled wickedly.

"Of course" Aster hissed.

"Perfect." Kagehoshi said. "The possession worked well. Soon, you shall destroy Aster's friends, and everything will be mine." Kagehoshi chuckled to herself, and it turned into successful laughter that rand through the corridor.

"My minions are nothing compared to you." She said to Aster. She stormed to the font and looked through it. It now showed Hassleberry, Chloe and Melody wandering down a corridor with Millie holding Melody's hand, and the rest were walking down another corridor.

"They're such a nice group of friends. Pity they have to die."

"I'll finish them off for you." Aster said.

"Of course you shall, my sweet." Kagehoshi cooed. "Then together, we shall rule!"

"Miss Kagehoshi." A voice said through the speakers. "The intruders are near the hall."

"Perfect." Kagehoshi said. "Kai!" She yelled. The man in the hooded cloak walked into the room and got down on one knee in front of her.

"My lady," He said.

"Free Daisy from the wall. You know what to do."

"Are…are you sure? It sounds a bit wrong doing something like this to her. She might die." Kagehoshi chuckled.

"You've grown fond of her, haven't you? Regardless, it has to be done."

"I…yes. Of course." Kai said quietly. He stood up and walked off into the shadows.

"Are you ready darling?" Kagehoshi asked Aster. He nodded and smiled wickedly.

"Meno, Haru and Millie are going to pay for betraying me." She smiled. "And as for the others…well…they shall no longer exist in this world."

…

Inside Kagehoshi's mirror, there was nothing but darkness. The only light shone through the mirror, and Aster lay unconscious in the light. His eyes gave a small twitch and Aster moaned quietly. With a lot of effort, Aster managed to open his eyes halfway. After looking around where he was, his eyes opened wide with a gasp.

"What the…" He muttered. He sat up from the floor and looked around again. "Where am I?"

**Whoa that was one heck of a chapter. Let me know if I ended up putting a spiritshipping moment in there! Now you know almost all of Kagehoshi's horrible plan! In the next chapter, Aster shall receive yet ANOTHER confusing warning, a reunion shall occur, and the rest of the gang shall face their toughest foe yet! Find out what happens next time, only in Captured Flower…**


	20. Chapter 20: Magdala

**IT'S HEEEEEEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEEEE!! Sorry for the wait, but I was taking part in a theatre group for the week, so it's been pretty hectic! But I've kept true to my username and daydreamed constantly for you guys! So sit back, relax and enjoy this next chapter!**

Chapter 20

Magdala

"Where am I?" Aster looked around himself one more time to check if it was real, but there was darkness all around him, the only light shining where he lay, and not a sound was heard.

"I should get outta here," Aster said. He stood up from the invisible floor, but as soon as he straightened, he stumbled and fell onto one knee gasping for breath.

_What? What's going on? Why do I feel so weak?_ Aster stood up again, with his left hand on the black wall to support himself. _I feel as though I should know…but…everything's just a blur._

"What a headache…" Aster muttered, placing a hand on his head. He took a step forward. "OW!" He yelped suddenly, jerking his hand away from the wall and swearing under his breath. A thought came to his mind. His hand slowly went to the wall again, and as soon as the fingertips were inches from the wall, a small bolt of electricity appeared between the two.

_Static…_He suddenly remembered the white lab, the scientists by the machines, Kagehoshi slicing Thomas to pieces and the electric chair he sat on.

"Of course! How could I forget?" Aster exclaimed. "Guess all those volts took more out of me than expected." Aster's vision became a blur and he fell onto his knees again. "Make that a lot." He muttered.

"_You look pretty weak. Please…allow me to help you."_ Aster gasped.

_I know that voice._ Aster looked to his left and spotted none other than…

"Ember!" Aster exclaimed. He scrambled across the floor away from her. Ember smiled softly.

"_Aster…I don't want to hurt you believe me."_

"Why should I?" Aster snapped. "You tried to kill me don't forget."

"_You're too weak, so you couldn't fight even if you tried. You can barely even_ _stand."_ She kneeled down in front of Aster. _"I'm so sorry for what I did. After seeing you_ _fight, I don't want to kill you. I told Kagehoshi this, and she locked me in here. Just_ _for rebelling."_ She made flames appear around her hand, and they shot out and surrounded Aster.

"YEOW! HOT HOT HOT!!" Aster yelled, trying to put out the flames, but stopped suddenly and looked at his hands. "Not hot…" He noticed the flames making his various grazes and scars from past battles disappear. Even the rips and tears in his suit were repaired. Not only that, but Aster felt his energy returning to him when the flames disappeared.

"_Flames aren't just to burn"_ Ember said as Aster looked around at his repaired body, completely amazed.

"Uh…thanks." Aster said. "But that doesn't mean we're friends. I still don't trust you."

"_Then you'll thank me after I give you this warning."_ She smiled. _"But since you_ _don't trust me, I guess you'll never know what that warning is."_ She turned around, her hair of flames flowing down her back, and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Aster yelled, standing up. Ember smirked.

"_Alright, I suppose I should tell you."_ She turned back around to Aster. _"You should beware, Aster…_

"Yeah yeah, beware of the chair." Aster said in a bored tone. "I already know about that, and I know what it means as a bonus."

"_That wasn't what I was going to warn you about."_ Ember snapped. She sighed to control her temper. _"Listen to me, Aster. And listen closely…"_

…

In another room in the castle, the remaining scientists flocked around a large see through capsule that reached the ceiling. Green liquid was filled to the brim inside, with large bubbles rising to the surface. A young girl the size of a seven year old curled up in a ball with small tubes attached to her floated inside with her eyes closed.

"Is she nearly ready?" A red haired scientist asked.

"Almost, Tim." Another answered. "She still has a couple of things that need sorting out,"

"I'm just glad I don't have to use that chair again." A scientist from the capsule said. "Poor boy. He was absolutely terrified."

"The fifth stage is complete!" A man yelled form a machine.

"Very good, Michael." Tim said. "Though you are right, John. I hated using that thing. But this next plan will hopefully not be used. This is just as a last resort." He walked up to the capsule and looked at the girl. "She may have a small power, but it's enough to kill Aster." In the capsule, the girl blinked her eyes open. They were a deep blue colour, similar to Aster's.

"Those are the same eyes as Aster's!" Michael exclaimed.

"Correction: they're James' eyes. She has DNA from both Kagehoshi and James. Technically, she's Miss Kagehoshi's daughter, and she may also be Aster's sister because of her DNA from Aster's father, James." Tim said.

"We're getting a lot of positive readings." Michael yelled. Hair sprouted from the top of the girls head until it went down to her waist. Her emotionless face suddenly smirked wickedly. The ends of her hair twisted together until an axe blade formed at the end of it.

"TIM LOOK OUT!" Michael yelled. Tim jumped out of the way just as the axe smashed the glass capsule. Unfortunately, the axe hit John, so it killed him on contact. The green liquid leaked out and made puddles all over the floor. A small white hairy hand landed on the floor, followed by another one, until the girl was lifted out of the capsule several feet from the ground with the hands, which were made from her white hair. The rest of the hair that was not part of the hands waved wildly around her head as if they were serpents. Tim looked up at the girl in amazement from the floor. He smiled.

"She's ready." Tim said.

…

"_Kagehoshi has a feeling this plan shall backfire, so she has another one. A backup_ _plan, if you must call it that." _Ember glanced at Aster, expecting a reaction, but he said nothing.

"What's the plan?"

"_I don't know the details, but it involves DNA from both Kagehoshi and…your_ _father."_

"My father?" Aster said. "Does this involve cloning?"

"_As I said before, I don't know the details, but if you make it out of here alive, be_ _careful."_ Ember turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Aster asked. "I've still got some-" Before he could finish his sentence, Ember had vanished. "-questions…" Aster finished slowly. He kicked the ground in frustration.

"Great! Another confusing warning!" Aster threw his arms up in the air. "What more could I ask for?" He yelled sarcastically.

"Hee hee. You're funny."

Aster looked around him for the voice. He spotted a thin girl of seven years old with white hair down to her waist, a yellow frilled blouse with a thin blue ribbon tied loosely around the neck. She wore a blue pleated skirt like Meno's and black Hush Puppies on her feet, complete with white ankle socks. She had a playful smile on her face and blue eyes. She stood a few metres away from Aster.

"Hey, are you lost?" Aster asked. The girl giggled again. Not entirely sure what was going on, Aster walked towards the girl. His footsteps echoed through the quiet room, until suddenly, he heard the sound of stepping onto something wet. Aster looked down at the floor, and gasped at what he saw. He had stepped into a puddle of blood, which surrounded the girl. She giggled and held up a head of a man with red hair.

"Hee hee. Killing is so much fun. You should try it." She giggled. "This is one of the men in white coats who made me. The others called him Tim. But I got rid of them as well. They annoyed me." Aster was too shocked for words. The girl dropped the head and ran off into the darkness laughing.

"Hey, wait!" Aster yelled. He ran through the puddle of blood after the girl, red footprints staining the floor. Aster constantly heard the giggling of the girl, and he turned through various invisible corners, and would always seeing a glimmer of white hair go round the corner. A few times, he could swear some of the tips of her hair were tainted with blood. Several minutes later, he stopped outside the rectangle of light to catch his breath.

_Who was that?_ Aster thought.

"Is someone there?"

"Who's that?" Aster asked. He heard footsteps coming closer towards him.

_Clomp! Squeak! Clomp! Squeak!_

_That sounds like trainers._ Aster thought_. Could it be…?_ From the shadows, he spotted a girl with black and purple hair and a purple outfit appear.

"Daisy?" Aster whispered.

"Aster?" Daisy gasped. She raised a thin black eyebrow suspiciously. "Wait, how do I know you're not a fake?"

"Damn," Aster hissed. His hand reached inside his pocket and he rustled through the contents until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the purple ribbon that was decorated with a purple heart and showed it to Daisy.

"This proof enough for ya?" He asked. Daisy gasped. There was a tense silence.

"Aster…" Daisy said quietly. She beamed. "IT'S REALLY YOU!" She ran to Aster and threw her arms around his neck, surprising Aster and making him fall onto the floor. Aster felt something wet fall onto his shoulder.

"Daisy…" Aster said.

"I was so scared…but now you're here at last…" Daisy cried. She sniffed and hugged Aster tightly. He smiled sadly.

"Come on…don't cry…" Aster said weakly, feeling a tear roll down his face. Daisy pulled herself away from Aster, rubbing her eyes dry.

"Is James here with you?" She asked.

"I thought he might be with you. I saw what happened to him, but I…" Aster placed a hand on his head. "…can't remember." Aster shook his head quickly. "But I'm just happy you're okay. I'm breakin' you outta here." Daisy smiled.

"I'm so glad you're here, Aster." Daisy said. "I knew you'd come." Aster and Daisy gazed into each others eyes, before they closed them and shared a long awaited kiss.

…

"Urgh! Look at them!" Kagehoshi said in disgust, indicating the mirror, which showed clearly Aster and Daisy kissing. "Makes me want to puke."

"He looks in love to me." Kai said. Kagehoshi gave him a warning glare. "I…my apologies miss Kagehoshi."

"Do you have it?" Kagehoshi asked. Kai held up a long staff half the height of him, with a dark wooden stick and a green sphere on top. "Perfect." She took it from Kai and walked over to a possessed Aster.

"Here's a present for you." Kagehoshi said. Aster took the sceptre and looked at it in admiration.

"There's something inside it." He muttered.

"Oh, that's just something to boost its strength." Kai looked over Kagehoshi's shoulder, and his eyes widened. Daisy's body lay inside unconscious.

"I can tell there's something wrong Kai." Kagehoshi said. "What is bothering you?"

"Well…are you sure we should do this to Daisy?" Kagehoshi chuckled.

"I never knew a man like you could grow so attached to someone." She turned back to Aster. "But remember; only use this as a last resort." Aster nodded. "Now go greet our guests. You know what must be done." Aster turned on his heel and walked out of the door. Kai watched him go sadly.

_Daisy…_ He thought. _I never thought I'd see you again._

"Now then," Kagehoshi turned around and kneeled down in front of a young girl with white hair. "How'd it go, darling?" She cooed.

"I got him really scared, momma." She said excitedly. "That head was really effective. Did I do well?" Kagehoshi ruffled her hair.

"Of course, my darling. Your hair hides thorns behind that beauty." She snapped her fingers. A red rose appeared in her hand. She attached it to the girl's hair. "A rose suits it well."

"Momma…what's my name?" The girl asked.

"Of course! How could I forget?" She stood up and thought for a moment. "Hmmm…how about…Magdala?" The girl nodded quickly.

"Yes. I love that name! Thank you, Momma!" She spun around and skipped into the shadows, singing her new name out loud as if it were a song. Kagehoshi smiled to herself.

"One more thing, Magdala." Magdala stopped skipping and turned back to Kagehoshi. "Later on, when the time comes…I'll let you meet your big brother in person." Magdala beamed and her eyes shone with excitement.

"I have a big brother?!" She squeaked.

"Yes. Later…I want you to kill him. Can you do it? For Momma?"

"Okay!" Magdala said. "I'll kill big brother for you!" She turned around and skipped off again, singing a song to herself.

"Though she's seven, she has a mind of a newborn." Kagehoshi said. "She's my perfect weapon."

…

"Oh, goddammit!" Aster yelled. "Not even a single dent!" He threw his handmade ice sword on the ground in frustration.

"I tried breaking through that mirror plenty of times." Daisy said. "No such luck" She smiled. "But I'm really impressed on how strong you've become…huh?"

"What's wrong?" Aster asked.

"You are the real Aster, right?"

"Yeah,"

"So if you're Aster then…" Daisy pointed at the mirror behind him. "Who's he?" Aster glanced behind him at the mirror. He spotted Kagehoshi handing a staff to another Aster.

"That's me!" He exclaimed. "Wait, why are my eyes purple?"

"And what's wrong with purple eyes?" Daisy asked with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing, nothing!" Aster said quickly. "But it's strange, don't you think? My eyes are blue, but that one has purple eyes." He stepped back away from the mirror. "Unless…"

"Unless what?!" Daisy asked. Aster didn't answer. There was silence for a few seconds.

"I'm so stupid!" He yelled. "Why didn't I think of that before!? You invaded my dreams a while ago possessed. Your eyes are naturally purple, so I barely noticed there was something wrong."

"I came into your dream? I don't remember. What happened?"

"Well…you kinda insulted me."

"Oh…sorry about that."

"Anyway, I think that my body is outside and my soul is in here with you. Kagehoshi possessed it and now she's going to make me do something that I don't want to think about…phew!" Aster said quickly in one breath.

"The only problem is…how are we going to stop Kagehoshi trapped in here?" Daisy asked.

"I have no idea. I'd be able to stop her straight away if it weren't for this stupid-" Aster kicked the frame of the mirror hard.

"So you don't know what to do?"

"No,"

"Did that hurt?"

"Yes. Ow!" Aster clutched his foot and sat down on the floor. "Great. Just…great."

"Now what are we gonna do?" Daisy asked, sitting down in front of Aster.

"I don't know Daisy. And I know something's happened to dad. I saw it myself. But… I'm not sure where he is."

"Well, this sucks!" Daisy exclaimed. Aster suddenly remembered something.

"Daisy… you haven't seen a girl with white hair anywhere have you?"

"No…why? Did you?" Aster nodded.

"She was standing in a pool of blood with a head. She said it was one of the scientists. When I ran after her, either it was my imagination or tips of her hair had blood on it."

"Probably your imagination." Daisy said. "But did this head have red hair?"

"Yes,"

"I saw him when I was outside the mirror. I think I was on this really gross wall of tentacles."

"Ha! I was in an electric chair."

"That's rough," Daisy muttered.

"Tell me about it." Aster turned to the mirror. "Now all we can do is sit around and wait for an idea to come to us." He stood up and went to the mirror. It didn't show his reflection, but instead showed the destroyed lab. His eyes widened as he saw something.

"Daisy, come here. That's the girl." Daisy looked over his shoulder and spotted Magdala sitting in the rubble with a teddy bear twice the size of her."

"She must be about seven." Daisy said.

"How can she kill those scientists?" Aster wondered.

"Mister Fuzzy, do you think I'm pretty?" Magdala asked her bear. She waited for a response. "You won't answer?" Her playful look turned into a vicious glare as she stood up and walked backwards away from the teddy. Magdala's hair waved around her head like snakes. Her hair turned into a multiples number of plaits with points as sharp as knives and charged at the bear, ripping it until the bear was nothing more than fabric and stuffing. Magdala's hair returned to its normal length and the plaits became undone. "That's what happens to anyone who doesn't say I'm pretty." Kagehoshi appeared behind Magdala.

"Magdala, you're a good girl." Kagehoshi said, ruffling Magdala's hair. Magdala giggled happily. Aster and Daisy were staring at Magdala completely speechless.

"Wow…" Daisy said slowly. "Does that answer your question, Aster?"

"Yup,"

…

"Aster!" Jaden yelled as the gang walked into a large ballroom.

"About time you got here!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"How's Aster?" Melody asked, with Millie sitting on her shoulders.

"Not good," Haru answered. "We've just found out Kagehoshi's been torturing him."

"Haru…not in front of the kids." Chloe said, pointing at Millie.

"We thought you might've seen him." Jaden said.

"Nope," Chloe said shrugging. Melody and Millie shook their heads.

"Kagehoshi's torturing Private Phoenix?!" Hassleberry clenched his fists. "Why I'm gonna…"

"I hope my cousin's okay." Hannah said.

"He'll be fine, Hannah." Jaden reassured.

"Thanks, Jaden," Hannah whispered, blushing to herself.

"So none of us have seen him?" Jesse asked.

"No,"

"Nope."

"Nuh uh." Syrus said.

"Negative" Hassleberry shrugged.

"I couldn't feel him in the air, so no."

"Alright, first priority is finding Aster." Jaden proclaimed.

"You won't have to look far."

"That sounded like Aster." Meno exclaimed.

"Look!" Melody yelled, pointing at the ceiling. Everybody looked up at the ceiling, and spotted Aster falling through the air. Despite the great height, he landed on the ground gracefully with one hand on the floor to support himself.

"I'm right here." Aster said, standing up.

"Aster! Thank god you're okay!" Jesse said, making his way towards Aster.

"Wait." Jaden said, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "That's not him. I can tell."

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked.

"He looks like Aster to me. He's got the suit, the hair, the accent, the eyes…" Syrus listed the features of Aster on his fingers. "The…wait a minute. The eyes are different."

"He's possessed!" Haru exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Everyone yelled at the same time. Aster smirked wickedly.

"Congrats! You figured it out, Haru. Kagehoshi asked me to kill you for betraying her. Same for you, Meno." Meno gave a terrified sob and trembled all over. "And you, Millie." Millie clung to Melody in fright.

"Melody. I'm scared." Melody pulled Millie down from her shoulders and placed her on the floor.

"Don't worry. We'll deal with this. You and Meno should get out of here."

"See if you can find the dungeons." Jesse suggested. "You can free any other prisoners there." Millie nodded and ran off to Meno.

"Come on. Let's go." Millie said, pulling on Meno's skirt. Meno didn't move, and stared at the possessed Aster.

"Aster. You're there somewhere I know it. You're not the person who saved me. The Aster I know is decent and kind." Meno yelled at Aster.

"Oh, shut up!" Aster snapped, throwing a blue energy field at Meno. She shielded herself with her arms crossed over her chest. Haru stepped forward in front of Meno. He forced two stone poles to appear out of the ground and spun one of them quickly around his hand, blocking the energy field and bursting it into a small cloud of blue smoke.

"Go on you two. Get to the dungeons."

"We'll deal with this." Jaden said, grinning and showing his famous peace sign.

"Hurry!" Hannah yelled.

"Syrus, you should go with them. Make sure they don't get hurt." Syrus nodded and ran to Millie and Meno.

"Where are the dungeons?" Syrus asked.

"They're this way." Millie answered.

"Follow us" Meno said. The three of them ran off into the way they had originally come.

_Good luck, everyone._ Meno thought as she ran. _Don't lose. If you do, the world will _be _finished._

Melody pulled out her wooden flute from her belt, Chloe made frost circle around her hands, Hassleberry punched a fist in his palm with a grin, Hannah pulled out three sparrows and held them in her right hand between her fingers by the tails, Jaden brought out his gun and Aster stared calmly at the group with his arms folded and a smile on his face.

"Alright, guys." Jaden said. "Time to get our game on!"

**Phew! What a chapter! Just a few notices now. I'm doing a few drawings of my own characters (yes, I can actually draw!) so I'll try and get links to them, the character profiles are nearly finished and that's pretty much it! In the next chapter; our heroes shall fight their possessed friend, Daisy reveals a secret and Kagehoshi's plan unfolds more and more. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to your lovely reviews! See ya later guys!**


	21. Chapter 21: Daisy's Secret

**I hate to keep my lovely fans waiting, so here's chapter 21! Gee, I really should start to wrap this up, but I've got so many ideas in my head…hmmm…what's a word for a third series in a story? Ahem! Sorry! Just talking to myself again! So, er, here ya go!**

Chapter 21

Daisy's Secret

"You're making a huge mistake fighting me, y'know," Aster said, his arms folded. "I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back and a bucket on my head."

"We don't want to hurt you, man." Jaden said. "We just have to make you snap out of it."

"You don't want to hurt me?" Aster repeated. He smiled. "Well then, that just makes things easier." Aster closed his eyes and began to glow blue. "I'll have some fun and kill you slowly." Three silhouettes glowing blue emerged from Aster. When the glowing stopped, three copies of Aster were standing before the group.

"Uh oh," Jesse said.

"I can't deal with three Asters" Hassleberry yelled, clutching his head.

"The more the merrier." Aster said. The three clones ran towards the group. Quickly, Haru threw his poles against two walls, so one was on each wall. A stone wall closed between the clones and the heroes like automatic doors.

"This is not good," Melody muttered.

"He really is trying to kill us," Chloe said.

"Aster, you're still in there. I know you are." Hannah whispered. Suddenly, the stone wall exploded and three Asters ran towards them. Haru made a stone structure erupt from the floor and almost touch the ceiling, but an Aster clone on the right jumped high into the air onto a wall, jumped off the wall with a flip forward and landed on the ground again. The other two clones crashed through the wall, making two large holes. Chloe fired a blast of frost from her hand to the clones. Two of them dodged out the way, but the middle clone was frozen from the shot, and it exploded into a puff of smoke.

"They're just shadows!" Chloe said. An Aster clone landed in front of Hassleberry and punched him across the face.

"Well I certainly felt that." Hassleberry snapped. "Right, you're mine." Hassleberry faced the clone that punched him, and they both engaged into a street fight.

"Typical," Melody sighed. She activated her Serenade sword on her flute and charged at the second clone. Just as her sword was brought down, Aster caught it in his hand effortlessly, surprising Melody. He grabbed the sword with both hands and threw Melody over his shoulder.

"What a disappointment," The Aster clone said, shaking his head. "You're next," He turned to Jaden.

"Uh…I don't want any trouble…" Jaden started. Aster dashed towards Jaden at a fast speed and circled around him so that a dust trail was shown and Aster was just a blur.

_He's fast…_ Jaden thought. Suddenly, Jaden was kicked behind the head by Aster, forcing him onto the floor. Aster placed a foot on his head to prevent him from getting up.

"Alright, that's it!" Hannah yelled and threw her sparrows at Aster. They were a direct hit, and the clone exploded into smoke.

"Wow. Thanks Hannah." Jaden said.

"Well I, er…was just wanting to er…moving on…" Hannah muttered nervously, her cheeks turning pink.

"Stop flirting and help us out here!" Chloe yelled.

"Er, right. Sorry." Jaden said, standing up again.

"How about a combined attack?" Hannah smirked.

"What have you got in mind?" Jaden asked. Hannah whispered into Jaden's ear for a few seconds. Jaden reached to his gun and began adjusting it.

"Ready?" Hannah asked, pulling out a handful of sparrows

"You bet!" Jaden said. Hannah threw her sparrows into the air to make a two sided triangle. Jaden fired his gun at the sparrows, flames flying out towards them and setting them on fire. The flames morphed the sparrows into a phoenix shape, which glided around the room, burning red curtains, melting the statues and a tip of a wing went past the clone Hassleberry was fighting.

"Aw! But I was just about to beat him." Hassleberry whined as the clone exploded. The giant phoenix glided towards the real Aster, who still stood there with his arms folded and a smirk. The phoenix crashed into him with a huge explosion.

"HANNAH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Haru yelled.

"Sorry. They act on their own accord." Hannah apologised. "Besides, Aster's fine." As she spoke, Aster jumped out of the smoke without a single mark on his body. "See?"

"But how?" Jesse said. When the smoke cleared, a puddle of water was on the floor.

"Oh, goddammit!" Hassleberry yelled, charging to Aster with a fist clenched. Just as he was about to hit him, Aster sidestepped out of the way behind Hassleberry calmly, planted his left hand on Hassleberry's left shoulder and his right hand on his head and flipped over Hassleberry effortlessly.

"Humph. Playtime is over." Aster said.

"Hang on a second." Jesse said. "Guys, don't you see what he's doing? Aster's not even trying to win this fight."

"Not true! I'm giving it my all." Aster said sarcastically.

"You're just playing with us." Hannah yelled, pointing a finger at her possessed cousin.

"Uh, right. I think Jesse just said that, genius. Oh yeah, and since you're blind, just to let you know, I'm rolling my eyes"

"I'll roll your whole head." Hannah shouted angrily.

"Calm down, Hannah." Jaden said.

"Now I'll get serious." Aster began to fade away until he was see-through.

"Now what?" Chloe moaned. Before their eyes, Aster vanished.

"Aw, crap!" Hassleberry exclaimed. "He turned invisible?!"

"No fair! That's cheating!" Melody yelled.

"I wonder if the others are having as much fun as we are," Haru muttered.

…

"Wow! This is fun!" Syrus said, slicing through prison bars with his sword. Five people inside ran out cheering.

"It's easier than I thought." Millie said. She walked on a wooden beam in the ceiling with golden threads hanging from her fingers leading to a guard. She made him pull out a ring of keys and unlock the doors. Eventually, a large crowd of prisoners were in the corridor. Meno opened a wooden door.

"Get out of here! Move it!" She yelled, helping the prisoners bustle out of the door.

"Right! Twenty down…er…some more left to go." Syrus said.

"This is going to take ages." Millie moaned, jumping down from the beam and releasing the guard from her control. It scrambled from the floor and ran off.

"How many cells are there?" Syrus asked.

"Well…" Meno started, indicating the large room with rows of cells up to the ceiling.

"There must be hundreds of them!" Syrus exclaimed.

"I'll take care of these." Meno said. A pink whirlwind of energy surrounded her body, making her clothes and hair blow in the breeze. Hundreds of arms shot out of the whirlwind and waved around the room, cutting every single cell door open and even smashing a few windows.

"Is that all of them?" Meno asked. Millie looked around at all the prisoners walking out of their cells cautiously and confused. Millie nodded at Meno. The pink whirlwind disappeared from Meno, who fell onto her knees with a sigh.

"You okay?" Syrus asked, kneeling down beside her. Meno blushed.

"Yeah. That attack takes a bit out of me. I'm fine though." Meno stood up from the floor.

"Alright. That's all the prisoners taken care of. There's only three left. No prizes in guessing which ones." Syrus muttered.

"I know where they are." Meno said. "I heard of Kagehoshi's plan before any of her other minions. They're through that door." She pointed at a second wooden door right in front of them.

"Here we come," Syrus said, opening the door.

"Whoa!" Millie whispered. All three of them were standing in a room filled with rubble, the only unharmed objects being a mirror and a stone font.

"I wonder what happened here." Syrus said, picking himself through the rubble.

"This mirrors broken." Millie whined. "I can't see how pretty I am." She tapped the glass in the mirror.

"Knock it off!" A voice yelled. Millie squeaked in surprise and stumbled away from the mirror.

"It's alive!" Millie squealed.

"You shall pay for disturbing the spirits of the haunted mirror…" The voice said in a spooky voice.

"Haunted?!" Syrus whimpered. Meno raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She heard stifled laughter coming from the mirror.

"Hang on a minute..." Meno went up to the mirror and banged it hard with her fist. "Alright, we caught you." Aster and Daisy appeared in the mirror from their hiding place bursting out laughing.

"Sorry. We couldn't resist." Daisy laughed, regaining control over herself.

"That was not funny." Syrus snapped.

"I like to see what you'd do trapped in a mirror." Aster said as a comeback.

"How long have you been in there?" Millie asked. Both Aster and Daisy shrugged.

"Not sure" Aster muttered.

"I was in here longer," Daisy said.

"I tried breaking through it. Not a scratch."

"I tried as well. My picks didn't do a thing." Daisy clamped a hand over her mouth after she spoke.

"Huh? What picks?" Aster asked. "You've got a secret, haven't you?" Daisy sighed in defeat.

"Okay. You caught me." Daisy pulled out from behind her a purple shoulder bag that had a button up flap and a pouch shape body.

"I got this when I came to the castle…" Daisy started.

_Flashback_

"_Keep moving, missy," A guard demanded, showing Daisy further down a long corridor._

"_It's a shame we can't kill you right now. You're such fresh meat." Another guard hissed._

"_But I have friends. They'll save me. And then you'll get what's coming to you."_

"_Cocky brat," A guard muttered, clenching his fist._

"_Easy, John" The other guard said. "We're only following Miss Kagehoshi's orders."_

"_Fine," John sighed. At this point, the three of them went past a wooden door. As soon as Daisy was in front of it, the door began shaking violently, stopping the guards._

"_What the hell's behind there?" John yelled._

"_I heard rumours that Miss Kagehoshi was storing charmcaster items behind there."_

"_What's a charmcaster?"_

"_You never paid attention to Kagehoshi, did you John?" The guard sighed. "Charmcasters carry around a bag that contains an infinite number of small weapons for any purpose, be it disarming or defending. The bag chooses its master, and by the looks of it, the master has been found."_

"_Maybe it's one of us." John said hopefully._

"_No. The masters are usually girls. It's extremely rare for a male charmcaster." Both the guards looked at each other._

"_Could it be?" John whispered. Both of them turned to Daisy slowly._

"_Er…did I do something wrong?" Daisy asked sheepishly with a grin. Suddenly, the wooden door burst off its hinges. A purple bag charged through and hooked itself over the dumbfounded Daisy's shoulder._

"_Well…purple is my favourite colour." Daisy said._

"_You give that to us now!" John demanded, reaching out to the bag. As soon as he touched it, his hands jerked away quickly._

"_ARGH! IT BURNS!" John screamed, clutching his hand._

"_The bag of charms has chosen its master." The second guard muttered to Daisy. "You're the new charmcaster."_

"Just like that, Daisy Portrait became Daisy Portrait the charmcaster."

"So let me get this straight." Syrus began. "That bag has a lot of weapons inside like a tardis." Daisy nodded.

"None of them worked on this mirror. Even my favourite weapon didn't do anything." Daisy reached inside the bag and pulled out a sharp needle attached to a small wooden handle. She hid it in the palm of her hand and three more appeared, so one was in between each of her fingers like claws.

"Are those the picks you mentioned?" Aster asked. Daisy nodded again.

"I can trap an enemy on a wall and prevent movement. Watch." She threw her picks at Aster, and straight away the sleeve of his jacket was pinned to the wall.

"Wow. That would be so cool if it wasn't aimed at me." Aster said.

"Sorry. I just needed something to demonstrate with." Daisy apologised, easing the picks out of the wall.

"I didn't know you could be that accurate." Meno said.

"I've been practicing while in this mirror. The guards couldn't take the bag off me. Apparently, it burns anyone other than me who touches it."

"Well why didn't you tell me?" Aster asked.

"It's kind of embarrassing." Daisy muttered. Aster gave a laugh.

"Embarrassing? I think it's cool!" Daisy smiled.

"Thanks for understanding."

"Wow! Check this out!" Millie yelled, gazing into the font with her nose barely showing over the edge. Meno and Syrus looked into the font.

"It's showing the fight." Meno said.

"It doesn't look good." Syrus muttered.

"Ahem!" Aster coughed.

"We can't bring this thing over to you, Aster." Syrus snapped.

"What about bringing them here?" Meno suggested. She brought a glowing pink hand up, and soon the mirror began to glow pink as well. Slowly, the mirror moved away from the wall and was then attached to another wall in front of the font.

"That's better." Aster said huffily.

"This thing's amazing." Meno breathed.

"Maybe this is what Kagehoshi has been watching us with." Syrus suggested.

"That would make sense." Aster shrugged.

"Isn't that Hassleberry?" Millie asked.

"Oh yeah it is." Meno said.

"Of course! The others are fighting a possessed you." Syrus exclaimed, pointing at Aster.

"I just hope they won't screw things up." Aster muttered.

"Cool! It's got sound!" Millie squeaked excitedly. "Oh boy, this is better than the cinema."

…

"C'mon. Put 'em up!" Hassleberry yelled, running around in circles and punching the air.

"Hassleberry, you've got to stop running around like a headless chicken. You're wasting energy." Haru said.

"What else can I do?" Hassleberry asked, exasperated.

"We've got to see through Aster's trick somehow." Jaden said.

"Uh…question. How can we see someone invisible?" Chloe asked. Melody, Hassleberry, Jaden, Jesse and Hannah all looked blank. They huddled into a circle and whispered to each other for a few seconds. They came out later with grins and their arms in the air.

"Psychic powers!" Jaden yelled.

"Inner strength!" Hassleberry shouted.

"Mind's eye!" Hannah cheered.

"Fighting spirit!" Jesse said cheerfully.

"X-ray vision!" Melody sang. Chloe sweat dropped at the group.

"Don't know 'em. Don't know 'em." Haru muttered to himself. In the mirror, Aster slapped his forehead.

"Idiots." Aster hissed. Meno and Daisy heaved suffering sighs.

"They REALLY had to pick the perfect time to be useless." Daisy said.

"Shush!" Millie hissed. "I'm trying to watch"

"When's he gonna show himself?!" Jesse yelled. "The suspension's killing me."

"Calm down, Jesse." Jaden said. "This is probably how he wants us to react."

"Jesse," Chloe started. "Why don't you get "it" out?" Chloe smiled.

"Oh, right." Jesse said. He reached towards his jacket pocket.

"Huh? What're you two on about?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, you'll see." Chloe smirked.

"Right. The only problem left is finding Aster." Jaden said. Though Jaden was unaware of it, Aster had made himself visible behind Jaden, staying in the shadows out of sight. He slowly stepped out the shadows, and sneaking water noiselessly from the water skin on his back, it sharpened into a knife. Aster smirked and made his way towards Jaden. Jesse spotted Aster and gasped.

"Look out, Jaden!" Jesse yelled. Out of nowhere, he made a whip made of lightning appear in his hand. With skill, Jesse made the whip crack around Aster's wrist, forcing him to drop the ice dagger.

"How did you do that?" Jaden asked, amazed.

"It's a new weapon Chloe gave me." Using the whip, he forced Aster off the ground. He swung Aster around the room and slammed him into a wall so hard, a column was destroyed. "My secret weapon. The light whip."

"Well, er, thanks Jess." Jaden said.

"Well, what have ya got to say about that, Aster?" Hassleberry asked triumphantly. "Not so tough now are ya?" Aster stood up from the ground, chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Melody asked, raising her eyebrow.

"On the contrary, I couldn't be more pleased." Aster said, brushing dust off his outfit. "You've all got a lot of skill, so you leave me with no choice." He outstretched his right arm. "Kagehoshi said to use this as a last resort. You shall have the pleasure of dying against my own secret weapon." From the ceiling, a dark wooden staff with a green orb on top fell into Aster's right hand.

"What is that?" Chloe whispered.

"Oh, that's very easy, Chloe." Aster hissed. The orb on the staff glowed green and green electricity shot out and filled almost the entire room, making Aster's silver hair stand on end. "This is your death."

…

"What the hell is that?!" Aster yelled. The font was showing green lightning filling the room, with the group fighting Aster bracing themselves from the lightning.

"Unh…" Daisy moaned clutching her head.

"You okay? What's wrong?" Aster asked.

"All of a sudden…I feel really weak…" Daisy closed her eyes and began to fall onto the ground.

"Daisy!" Aster yelled, catching her and laying her on the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Syrus asked.

"This is part of Kagehoshi's plan." Meno said. "That staff Aster has generates electricity from the orb and a body inside."

"Hold up, did you say…inside the orb?" Aster asked. Millie nodded.

"Judging by Daisy's reaction, I'd say her body is inside that orb."

"And with that power you're using down there, in a matter of minutes Daisy will…well…" Meno closed her eyes and turned away, unable to finish the sentence.

"She'll die, wont she." Aster muttered. Millie nodded, and walked over to Meno to comfort her.

"It's like killing two birds with one stone." Syrus said to himself. "Our friends will die, and so will Daisy."

"This is what Kagehoshi has been planning." Meno whispered. "Aster will have no one left to turn to, because he killed them. The only person he'll go to may be Kagehoshi herself. This is Kagehoshi's plan. To make Aster join her and together, the world shall be doomed."

"Er…make that three birds with one stone." Syrus corrected.

"No…that can't happen…" Aster cried, pressing his hands against the glass of the mirror. He squeezed his eyes shut.

_Kagehoshi…you bitch…you piss me off and I hate you…but…_ Aster thought. He opened his eyes slowly. Once again, his eyes glowed white.

_I won't let Daisy die._

"Get down!" Syrus yelled, forcing Millie and Meno onto the ground.

…

"I guess this it it!" Jaden shouted over the electricity.

"It's been nice knowin' ya!" Chloe shouted.

"Haru, if we get out of this alive, I look forward to our rematch." Hassleberry said.

"I do as well," Haru said smiling.

"Goodbye!" Aster yelled. "Now you shall die!"

KABOOM!

"What was that?!" Melody shouted. Everyone looked up. A huge hole was in the wall high up from the ground and black smoke was flying out of it.

"No!" Aster yelled. He looked at the staff and realised the orb was cracking. It smashed and Daisy's body enlarged into her original size.

"That's sorcery!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"Daisy was in the orb?!" Jesse yelled. The electricity disappeared as soon as the orb smashed. Aster clutched his head before collapsing on the ground next to Daisy. The group stared at them, dumbfounded.

"Uh…what just happened?" Hannah asked. Syrus, Millie and Meno leaped down from the hole in the wall and ran to the gang.

"Aster went all glowy and the mirror Daisy and he were trapped in smashed." Syrus gasped when he reached his friends.

"They should be fine." Millie said. Daisy and Aster sat up from the floor rubbing their heads.

"Urgh. What happened?" Daisy moaned.

"You got any painkillers? I've got a monster headache." Aster asked. He looked around the room he was in. "It's not black." He muttered. "WOO HOO! WE'RE FREE!" He cheered, standing up from the ground laughing.

"Aster! You're okay!" Hannah squealed, hugging her cousin around the neck.

"Ack! Hannah, I can't breathe!" Aster choked.

"So things worked out for us." Jesse said. Daisy looked around at the crowd amazed.

"You…you all came here…knowing you might die…just for me?" She whispered. Aster pulled Hannah away from him and kneeled down in front of Daisy.

"Daisy, you're our friend. And you're the girl I love. Our world wouldn't be the same without that cheerful smile and your feisty attitude. Seeing you happy makes me happy. Seeing you sad makes me sad. You're my everything, Daisy." Aster smiled. Both of them shared a hug.

"Ew! Mushy!" Millie said, turning away.

"So that's Daisy then?" Haru asked Hassleberry. "I can see why Aster likes her so much"

"And by the way…" Daisy started, standing up. She pointed at Haru. "Who's she?" Haru fell over anime style.

"Oh, for God's sake…" Haru muttered from the ground. Daisy blinked in confusion.

"What?" She asked. Aster whispered in her ear.

"He's a guy?!" Daisy exclaimed. "Well you could have told me!" She snapped. Aster laughed.

"It's good to have you back, Daisy." Jaden cheered.

"Yeah, you have no idea what dual academy's been like without ya." Hassleberry said.

"Thanks' for coming all this way to save me." Daisy whispered. "Now we're all together again. And who are you two?" She went to Chloe and Melody and began talking to them.

"Wait a minute!" Aster suddenly said. "What about my dad?"

"You mean he still hasn't been found?" Syrus said. Aster shook his head.

"I saw what happened, but I can't remember." Aster shook his head quickly. "Goddammit."

"I can help you out with that." The whole in the wall closed up and a marble balcony appeared, with Kagehoshi standing behind the railings.

"So…looks like you're ultimate plan failed." Jesse yelled.

"Sorry, sexy." Hassleberry said. Aster nudged him hard in the ribs to prove his point.

"Actually, that was only part of the plan. I've got another trick up my sleeve. Literally." Kagehoshi smirked. She reached into the sleeve of her kimono and pulled out an hourglass. At the top, hanging upside down by golden threads, was a man.

"This is my plan B" Kagehoshi hissed. Aster spotted the hourglass and gasped.

"What is that?" Melody asked.

"An hourglass?" Jaden suggested, shielding his eyes to look up at Kagehoshi. "I can't tell. She's too far up."

"There's something inside." Hassleberry said. "Look."

"Oh, yeah!" Chloe said.

"Okay, someone's gonna have to tell me what's in there." Hannah huffed. Aster fell onto his knees trembling.

"Aster? What's wrong?" Daisy asked.

"Are you okay?" Haru said.

"No…" Aster whispered. "I-it can't be"

"What's the problem, Private?" Hassleberry asked.

"Wait a second…" Chloe started. "I know the guy in there." Everybody looked up again, and one by one, their eyes widened.

"No way…" Jaden said slowly.

"Who's he?" Haru asked.

"Ask Aster." Jesse said, pointing at the shaking Aster.

"I've found him…" Aster said slowly. "Dad's inside that hourglass!"

**Dun dun DDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!! Phew! I sure enjoyed writing that, and I hope you enjoy reading it! Next time; can the gang free Aster's father? And a few identities are revealed. But who's? Find out next time!**


	22. Chapter 22: Requiem

**Alright, chapter 22 is here, review, favourite, blah blah etc etc. Damn, I'm seriously annoyed right now! My internet keeps getting knackered. It works in the morning, and when Simpsons starts, it goes off again! If I'm lucky, it lasts until eight at night! GRRRRRRRRRR!! Ahem! Well, er, just read the chapter…**

Chapter 22

Requiem

"That tiny thing in the hourglass is your dad?!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"No way!" Jaden yelled.

"Oh, it's real alright," Kagehoshi hissed. "I knew the possession would break somehow, so I came up with a backup plan." Kagehoshi looked sown at Aster, who was trembling all over and staring at the hourglass in shock. "Aster, if you want to save your father…" Kagehoshi pointed at Aster's friends. "…then kill."

"So that's what she's been planning." Jesse said.

"How cruel," Meno whispered, tears filling her eyes. Chloe placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Meno. Kagehoshi has treated so many people badly for her own gain. Mike…Haru…Sekio…Millie…you, and countless other people have probably been forced to do the unthinkable. That is Kagehoshi's way." Chloe said.

"Uh…you're supposed to be making her feel better, not worse." Syrus said.

"What would you know?" Chloe snapped.

_Aster…_Haru thought. _What will you do?_ Aster stood up from the ground with his hair hiding his eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Kill them!" Kagehoshi ordered.

"I…I…" Aster started, clenching his fists. "I WON'T DO IT!" He yelled, looking up at Kagehoshi.

"What?" Kagehoshi choked.

"Yeah!" Hannah cheered. "I knew my cousin would do the right thing!"

"Actually, I think Aster doesn't know what to do." Daisy said.

"What do you mean?" Melody asked.

"If Aster kills us, he saves his father but loses us. If he saves us, his father dies." Daisy answered.

"It's practically a Russian roulette." Hassleberry said.

"I feel for him. It must be hard for him knowing he could lose his dad again." Jaden muttered.

"Wait, you mean Aster lost him before?!" Haru exclaimed.

"Oh, right. You guys are new here." Jesse said. "About ten years ago now, Aster's dad disappeared. He wasn't found, so he was announced missing presumed dead. His mom also went missing long before that incident."

"So you're saying Aster used to be an orphan?" Millie asked.

"Pretty much," Hassleberry muttered.

"I had no idea…" Meno whispered. "But…I can't stand seeing him like this. What's going to happen now?"

"I've duelled countless criminals and other duellists to find out who took my father. But now he's finally back, I can't believe someone like you can take him away from me again just like that." Aster closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them again. "When I came to dual academy a year ago, I made my first ever friends. Friends I'll have for the rest of my life. I even made my first best friend." Aster looked over his shoulder at Jaden and smiled. "He taught me a lot of things that changed my life for the better. I even got a girlfriend." Daisy blushed. Aster felt his eyes sting, and turned back around quickly and looked at the floor, not wanting his friends to see him cry. "Even though I don't want dad to die, I can't take a life to save his," Everybody, even Kagehoshi, stared at Aster in surprise. "These are the only friends I've ever had!" He yelled, looking up at Kagehoshi with tears in his eyes. "I won't murder them!"

"Wait, did he just say…we're his only friends?!" Jesse asked.

"And either I'm imagining it, or he said I was his best friend." Jaden said.

"But he's a pro athlete! They're supposed to have tonnes of friends!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"Not this one," Syrus said. Kagehoshi said nothing in shock, but she clenched the hourglass tightly and growled angrily.

"Do not cross me, Aster!" She yelled, hurling the hourglass spinning through the air. Aster and the others watched it fall with growing intensity. As the hourglass spun, it began to grow larger and larger until the top almost touched the high ceiling. Eventually, the hourglass fell onto the floor with James right-side up with such force, the sands at the top tossed and turned like a raging ocean, and the stone structures Haru made in the last fight crumbled into rubble.

"Five minutes…" Kagehoshi said, the sands beginning to fall through the hole over James and onto the floor, filling it up slowly. "You have five minutes before your father drowns in sand." Kagehoshi grinned. "And you would have killed them by then! Fight! Kill! Kill your friends, or kill your father!" She yelled.

"No! Dad!" Aster yelled, running towards the hourglass.

"Grr! I'm gonna bust her sexy ass!" Hassleberry growled, dashing to Kagehoshi's balcony. "Andersen! Get the hourglass!"

"Can do." Jesse said, cracking his light whip in the air. It grew longer as Jesse cracked it and he made the whip head towards the hourglass.

"Argh!" Aster yelled, running into something in his way and getting caught in it. Jesse's whip cracked into this strange object and coiled its way back to Jesse, returning to its handle form in the process.

_What the…my light whip. It changed back._ Jesse thought.

"OOF!" Hassleberry grunted, also running into the same thing as Aster, and stood backwards away from the object rubbing his head. "Ugh! What's blocking me?"

"A force field," A voice said. In front of the hourglass, now completely visible, was a purple see-through wall with bolts of energy zapping around it.

_That force field…_ Melody thought. _It's similar to mine, except its purple and energy is shooting out._

"I placed a force field between us. You can't interfere." A woman was visible on the other side of the force field, but she was hidden by the shadows.

"Haru, do you know who that woman is?" Syrus asked.

"I'm not sure. But whoever she is, she's the one making the force field." Haru answered. Aster managed to pull himself free from the force field, his suit slightly torn up from impact.

"Dad!" Aster yelled, his hands pressed against the force field and tears falling down his face. The energy in the force field was so powerful, it cut into Aster's hands in shallow gashes and made them bleed, but Aster barely noticed.

"I should warn you, Aster. That force field is unbreakable." Kagehoshi said. "Try to break through it and it will tear you apart. Kill them, Aster. It's your only hope. KILL THEM!"

"I WON'T DO IT!" Aster shouted, his hands still on the force field. Suddenly, he felt someone grab his left wrist and pull him away from the purple wall. He looked up and spotted Jaden holding his wrist.

"Jay?" He whispered. Jaden gave a small laugh and smiled.

"That wasn't very smart. Now your hands are wrecked." Jaden said cheerfully. Aster looked at his hands. They were covered with gashes and blood was leaking out.

"Oh, yeah. Guess I didn't think about that."

"Let us handle this, Aster." Jaden let go of Aster's wrist and pulled out his gun. "We're gonna blast down this barrier and save your dad. So dry your eyes, man. Everything's gonna be okay."

_He…he's doing this for me? _Aster thought, wiping his eyes dry with the heel of his hand.

"No, Jaden." Melody said, placing a hand on Jaden's shoulder. "That's not gonna break through a barrier like that."

"Do you have a better idea?" Jaden asked. She nodded.

"I've learnt in my training as a sound warrior on how to destroy force fields. It's a deadly attack, but we've got no choice." Melody clenched the wooden flute in her hand tightly.

"Deadly?" Daisy repeated. A white aura began to glow around Melody. She moved her arms above her head with the wrist s crossing over each other, her flute in her right hand, and her left palm outstretched and pointing up at the ceiling.

"Oh no…" Chloe whispered. "No! Sister Melody, you're not going to use "that" are you?"

"Yes," Melody answered. "It may kill me, but Aster's father will be saved, the force field destroyed, and Kagehoshi may die as a bonus."

"Kill you?!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Melody! Don't do it!" Haru yelled, running towards Melody. Everybody else began running towards Melody as well.

_I'm sorry everyone…_Melody thought.

"Hey! Something's blocking me!" Jaden yelled, his hand hitting something in the air. He spotted a white surface appearing below his palm, which spread and became a sphere, whisking Jaden off his feet and onto his knees.

"Whoa!" Aster yelled in surprise, becoming trapped in the same force field as Jaden.

"What the hell is this?!" Hassleberry yelled as a white sphere surrounded him. Meno, Daisy and Mille also became trapped in the same sphere together. Gradually, as the gang got closer to Melody, they became trapped in the same spheres. Everyone looked around at their orbs with their hands pressed against them.

"It's a…force field?" Meno whispered, pressing her hands against the surface. It felt smooth to the touch, like a mixture of water and glass.

"Melody! Don't do it! If you have to die, let me die with you! Please, release me!" Chloe begged. Melody looked over her shoulder at her sister.

"I'm sorry. I'm doing this to keep you all alive."

"I'm with Chloe. If you die, then I'll die." Jesse yelled from his sphere. "Even though my girlfriend is in hospital, I still love you!"

"I'm so sorry, Jesse. I'm doing this for Aster."

"Melody! If this is gonna kill you, I can't let ya do this." Aster shouted. "It's suicide!"

"We've gotta save you're dad, Aster." Melody said. Aster stared at Melody, his eyes beginning to shine.

"B…but…" He started.

"I'm sorry." Melody whispered.

"Chloe, what is that attack she's using?" Haru asked.

"It's Melody's most deadly attack. It uses up a lot of power. Right now it's charging up and is merely a white aura. However, over time, pulsations come out and destroy anything it touches as it continues charging."

"Figures. That's why she placed us in these things." Syrus said, tapping his force field.

"When the full power is released, it can have so much power, it will destroy this entire castle and anybody inside." Chloe continued. "I've never seen her use it before, but she only uses it as a last resort."

"Her most powerful attack?" Hassleberry repeated. "I think I know the one you're talking about."

"_Get out here, coward!" Melody grunted. "Don't make me use my Requiem on you!"_

"_I'd let her. You'd get a Requiem heading in your direction if you don't."_

"_What does it do?" Hassleberry asked._

"_You don't want to know. She only uses it as a last resort."_

"It's called Requiem, right?" Hassleberry asked.

"I didn't think a dino brain would figure that out." Syrus muttered.

"I heard that!" Hassleberry snapped.

"Requiem!" Chloe yelled, her eyes glowing white. The aura surrounding her became bigger than before, almost monstrous. Her clothes blew in the strong wind it created, and her short pink hair blew upwards. A giant green sphere crackling with energy grew around her, and white balls of energy shot out of the sphere and flew around the giant ballroom. Everybody watched in amazement at Chloe's great power.

"Yup. I was right." Hassleberry muttered.

"NO!" Aster yelled, pressing his hands on the smooth surface. "DON'T DO IT!"

"She can't hear you." Chloe said. "While the power is increasing, she cannot see or hear us."

"Say what?!" Jaden exclaimed.

"You mean we've just got to sit here and watch her die?!" Haru yelled. Chloe nodded.

"There's not a thing we can do." Chloe whispered.

"Oh, that's helpful!" Jesse yelled sarcastically. Aster looked down sadly.

"It's all my fault." He muttered. Jaden heard him and looked at Aster confused.

"Come on, man. You know that's not true."

"It is true. And deep down you know it too, Jay. If I hadn't let Kagehoshi kidnap Daisy, we wouldn't have had to travel through all these bloody portals, Dad wouldn't be kidnapped and trapped in an hourglass, and Melody won't be about to kill herself. Melody's about to die…for me…" Choking back a sob, Aster covered his eyes with his hand. "It's all my fault. I'm the one who killed Melody." Jaden spotted tears escape past Aster's hand.

_He's crying…_ Jaden thought. He heard Kagehoshi chuckle from her balcony.

"That's right, Aster. If only you'd stopped me from taking that girl. Of course, your father would disagree. When he heard of my plan, he disagreed with it straight away. He even offered himself to be possessed in place of you."

"What? Are you serious?" Millie asked.

"Of course. He begged and pleaded." She looked at the hourglass. The bottom was filled up to James' waist with sand. "Now…he is quiet. He is suffering now for love of his son." With his eyes squeezed shut and tears still leaking from them, Aster covered his ears with his cut up hands to block out Kagehoshi's voice. "Aster, your father is about to die…for you. Melody is about to die for you. Your friends nearly died for you. Don't you see? Almost everyone in this room is finished. Melody shall die soon, and the force fields will go away, leaving your father to die in the hourglass, your friends vulnerable to my attacks and you shall become alone once again. And it will be all because of you."

"None of that's true!" Hassleberry yelled. "Sure, me and private Phoenix bicker sometimes, but to me, he's my second Sergeant next to Jaden."

"Aster is a great friend! I couldn't have asked for anyone better." Syrus said.

"He saved me from the bomb you planted inside of me." Meno said.

"He's the boy I love!" Daisy yelled.

"Aster taught me that you shouldn't live a life of revenge." Haru said.

"He's my older cousin, and even when there's air around, he helps me see in more ways than one. And that's something no guide dog can show me."

"We are all Asters friends." Jaden yelled. He smiled. "And ya know what? I'm proud to be his best mate."

"I thought I was your best friend." Syrus snapped.

"You are, but you heard what Aster said earlier." Jaden shouted back, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Shut up!" Kagehoshi snapped. "Are you all blind?!"

"I am," Hannah pointed out.

"Aster nearly killed you whilst travelling here. He probably doesn't even care of you die."

"Oh yeah! Well if he doesn't care about us, then answer me this; why is he crying?" Jaden yelled. Aster heard what Jaden said and opened his eyes in surprise. "He doesn't want Melody to die knowing that it was for him. He doesn't want any of us to die. Despite the dangers we'll face, we're gonna be by his side all the way. He told me just now how he thinks this is all his fault. But I know it's not his fault that Melody's gonna die. It's not his fault that we might die. It's not his fault that you might die." Jaden pointed at Kagehoshi. "It's your fault, Kagehoshi. It's your fault you're going to die! You kidnapped Daisy and James, and because of that, you'll pay with your life." Kagehoshi stepped backwards on her balcony in surprise.

"How…how dare you!" She yelled.

"Jaden…did you mean what you said?" Aster asked. Jaden turned to Aster and smiled.

"Of course I did. We all meant every word."

"Jay…" Aster whispered. He wiped away his tears with his sleeve. "Thank you…"

"No problem!" Jaden said, giving him his famous peace sign.

"Uh…guys. I think we've got something more serious to worry about." Chloe yelled, panic filling her voice. "Like for example, Melody's Requiem is nearly at its peak."

"Oh, boy. This isn't gonna be good." Daisy said.

"Brace yourselves. Because somehow I'm not sure these force fields will be able to withstand Melody's power." Haru yelled. The green sphere surrounding Melody touched the purple force field. Seconds later, it shattered like glass and disappeared.

"YES! SHE DID IT!" Hannah cheered. "Er…right?"

"I think so." Mille said.

"I thought so. There's not much atmosphere in here, so all I heard was something smash."

"Why isn't Melody stopping?" Millie asked. "The force field is destroyed, and we can destroy the hourglass ourselves."

"Didn't you hear what Chloe said? She can't hear us. Heck, she probably can't even see the hourglass,"

"Uh…guys…we've got a problem." Syrus whimpered. He pointed at his sphere shaped force field. Gradually, it was cracking.

"Uh oh…" Jaden said.

"I thought these force fields won't hold up." Haru yelled.

"If these smash, we're gonna die." Daisy yelled.

_No…_ Aster thought._ I'm not going to let my friends die._ His right hand glowed blue.

"Aster, what're you doing? You can't smash this barrier. Are you crazy?"

"I know. That's why I'm attacking from underneath." Jaden blinked in confusion. "Now quiet. I need to focus."

What's he gonna do? Jaden thought.

"I can read minds, y'know Jaden." Aster smiled. "And this is your answer." Suddenly, large icicles thrust up from the ground around Melody. As soon as they penetrated the green orb, a huge explosion went through the entire room.

"What is this power?" Kagehoshi yelled, shielding herself from the force.

"Aster pierced the Requiem orb." Chloe answered with a smile. "This is the end of Melody's Requiem." The explosion died down until the green orb disappeared. The white force fields glowed and they disappeared, freeing the heroes.

"Phew! Thank god that's over. Good thinking, Aster." Hassleberry said, breathing a sigh of relief. A faint green glow still existed where Melody stood. When it stopped, Melody lay unconscious on the ground.

"Melody!" Jesse yelled, dashing to Melody's body.

"Sister!" Chloe yelled, running with Jesse and kneeling down beside her sister. "Are you okay?" Jesse kneeled down beside Melody and lifted her head gently from the ground. She gave a quiet moan, but didn't wake up.

"She's fine. She's still breathing." Jesse answered.

_For a moment, I really thought I'd lost Melody._ Jesse thought.

"Damn you!" Kagehoshi growled, leaping down from her balcony with a red sphere surrounding her right hand. "DAMN YOU ALL!" She yelled, launching a massive attack in a beam the twisted like a spiral towards a target.

"Oh no…" Aster whispered. "DAISY! RUN!" Daisy looked up in surprise and her eyes widened when she spotted the red beam. She shielded herself and screamed, waiting for the inevitable. Suddenly, a figure stepped in front of her and stopped the attack, diffusing it into smoke.

"K-kai…" Kagehoshi choked. When the smoke cleared, Kai was visible in the smoke, with his sword glowing red.

"Kagehoshi, I can't work for you anymore. Consider this my resignation." Kai said.

"But…why? You're my most loyal fighter. Why would you leave me?"

"Because now I know who you really are. You're a psychopathic bitch who gets kicks out of killing other people. Another reason; you can trap Daisy in a sceptre, but there's no way I'm letting you attack her."

"Why are you so attached to that girl?" Kagehoshi asked.

"Because…" Kai started, turning to Daisy. He removed the hood hiding his face, making Daisy gasp at the sight. "She's my daughter." Kai finished.

"Daddy?" Daisy whispered.

"What?!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Daddy?!" Hassleberry repeated.

"I-it's you…" Daisy whispered. She looked up at her father for the first time in years. He had short brown hair that sowed visibly grey hairs, and his grey eyes were decorated with glasses.

"I never thought I'd see you again." Kai said. "Now, I believe Aster's father is still trapped in the hourglass. So now, with this attack, I shall free him." Kai aimed his sword at the hourglass, which was filled up to James' neck with sand. The red beam was released once again towards the hourglass, smashing it immediately. The sand spilled out all over the floor, and the golden threads holding James upright disappeared, making him fall to the ground.

"Damn. I couldn't stop them." The woman in the shadows hissed. She turned around and began to walk away. _Hmmm… Melody, eh? She'll make a worthy opponent._

"Wha…" James started, standing up from the ground and looking round in confusion. "Where am I?" He suddenly felt arms wrap around his neck in a hug. "Aster?"

"Thank god you're alright." Aster said. "I was so afraid for you. But you're safe now. I'm so glad you're okay." James looked down at his son in surprise. Aster suddenly pulled away from James rubbing his eyes with his arm.

"Oh, goddammit. I'm crying again. I'm sorry, I really need to control myself." Aster apologised. He felt James ruffle his hair.

"It's alright, Aster. What matter's is that we're both okay." James said. "What happened though?" Aster pointed behind James at the shattered hourglass. "Oh…" was all James said.

"Is that everything NOW?!" Syrus asked, exasperated.

"Not quite," Aster said. He walked to the centre of the room with James. "Kagehoshi…I want you to do something for me." He pointed at Meno. "Take the bomb out of Meno." Meno blinked in surprise. Kagehoshi sniffed.

"Fine. I have no use for it anyway." A white orb appeared in Meno's chest. In seconds, a yellow bomb with wires sticking out emerged. Kagehoshi clenched her right fist. The sphere became smaller, smashing the bomb into pieces.

"Now is that everything?" Syrus asked.

"Yes," Aster answered.

"Whew! Finally!" Syrus yelled. Kagehoshi turned around and began to walk away.

_Now is not the time for Aster to fight me._ Kagehoshi thought. Jesse watched Kagehoshi begin to leave angrily.

_She nearly killed all of us. She nearly made Melody kill herself. She's gonna pay._ Jesse pulled out the handle for his whip, the tip glowing yellow. He cracked it towards Kagehoshi as the lightning appeared. Kagehoshi stopped walking and turned around after hearing the whip crack. In one instant, the whip curled upwards over her face and a yellow flash appeared briefly as she yelled in surprise. When the glowing stopped, she covered her face, smoke rising from her head.

"Yes! I got her!" Jesse yelled.

"Are you nuts, Jesse?!" Hassleberry yelled.

"Wait, what's that?" Haru asked, pointing upwards. Everyone looked up, and something floated gracefully from the air and landed in Jaden's hands.

"It's her veil." Jaden said, fingering the silk material. "And it's been singed." He poked at the brown burn marks at the top of the veil.

"Yeah! Now we can see her face." Daisy cheered. Kagehoshi slowly removed her hand from her face and looked up.

"Who's she?" Millie asked.

"She looks familiar, but I can't put my finger on it." Jaden said thoughtfully. All it took for Aster was one glance to immediately recognise Kagehoshi's face. His eyes widened and he gasped.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"Are you okay?" Meno asked. Aster only answered with the one word that came to his mind seeing Kagehoshi's face for the first time.

One instant.

One glance.

One word.

"Mom?"

**Alright, you got me! It was her! Kagehoshi was Aster's stupid cruddy mom! Brag all you want about being right! But I bet you didn't see the bit about Kai coming did ya! Ahem, well, hope you enjoyed that chapter, more coming up soon. STAY TUNED!**


	23. Chapter 23: Return to Domino City

Hi folks

**Hi folks! Only a couple more weeks left b4 I go back to school...BOO HOO! It's my GCSE year eleven year as well! I'll be piled up with course work! But I'll try giving you more of my lovely stories. Anyway, now that that's out of my system, here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 23

Return to Domino City

"Mom?" Aster said quietly. Kagehoshi looked at Aster. Her face was in full view now that the veil was gone, and she looked just like the photos, her long black hair around her face, and her green eyes were the most attractive part of her face, but they didn't have their usual shine.

"What did you say?" Hassleberry asked.

"Of course." James said. "This explains everything."

"Alright, I think it's time for some explaining." Syrus proclaimed. Suddenly, the castle began to crumble and shake. A marble column from the ceiling fell onto the floor, barely missing the gang.

"I think it's time to get out of here!" Daisy yelled.

"LEG IT!" Jaden yelled. He grabbed Hannah's hand and ran to the large double doors of the ballroom.

"Melody's Requiem must have caused the castle to start collapsing." Haru said.

"But Aster stopped her attack. How can the castle still be destroyed?" Chloe asked.

"It must be the resulting explosion from afterwards." Jesse said. "Either that, or the impulses that flew around the room while charging."

"Let's get out of here. Hurry!" Haru yelled, running out of the room.

"Here we go…" Jesse muttered, picking Melody up gently in his arms and running after Haru.

"Wait for us!" Chloe yelled, dashing with Syrus, Millie, Kai and Meno.

"What about Kagehoshi?" Aster yelled. Haru stopped running and turned to Aster.

"Forget about her. She'll make it out of here with the rest of her minions. She always does."

"But she's-"

"Aster! Save yourself!" Haru shouted.

"He's right, son. Worry about yourself, not her." James said. Aster hesitated, closing his eyes tightly, before opening them and running off with James. Haru closed the doors behind them with a loud slam.

_I should get out of here too…_ Kagehoshi thought, leaping up high in the air onto her balcony.

"Miss Kagehoshi." Mokuren met Kagehoshi on the balcony, his face and hands covered with bandages. "The castle is-"

"I know. Get everyone out of here. And my name isn't Kagehoshi anymore, it's Miranda." She said quickly, walking past Mokuren.

"But…why? Where's your veil?" Mokuren asked. Miranda stopped walking and looked over her shoulder at Mokuren.

"They know…" was all she said.

"I see…" Mokuren muttered. "Alright everyone. Get ready to evacuate!" He yelled, turning round and running back into the shadows.

"Momma!" Magdala screamed, running to Miranda.

"Magdala…" Miranda said, kneeling down and hugging Magdala.

"Our home is collapsing. What's going on momma? I'm scared."

"It's okay. Come with me. We're going to be alright." She stood up holding Magdala's hand. "Be brave, okay?"

"Okay," Magdala whispered. "I'll do it for you, momma." Miranda smiled. Mokuren walked out of the shadows with a long green cloak on, followed by other figures wearing cloaks similar to his.

"Miss Kagehoshi…I mean Miss Miranda. We're ready." Miranda nodded. She held up her right hand. A white sphere appeared in her hand, and began to get larger and encase the group in a white light, before the light disappeared, along with Miranda and her followers.

…

Outside the castle, everyone watched the castle collapse from a safe distance.

"Who'd have thought it, eh?" Hassleberry muttered.

"I'd never have thought Kagehoshi would be Aster's mother." Hannah said. "Oh, nuts. My aunt's a psychopath."

"But…it was her who was helping us…wasn't it?" Syrus asked slowly.

"Huh?" Jaden said, his eyebrow raised.

"Well…that dream Aster had with the trees dripping blood. It showed a silhouette of the castle. That must've been Aster's mom."

"Did you know anything about this, Haru?" Meno asked. Haru shook his head.

"She always kept herself to herself." Haru muttered. "We couldn't have known."

"Where are the prisoners we freed?" Millie asked.

"There they are!" Meno answered, pointing downwards. At the bottom of the hill, prisoners were cheering at the sight of the castle collapsing.

"Look, down there!" Chloe yelled, pointing to the right of the crowd. "It's Mike!" Mike appeared beside the crowd, and a woman, a nine year old boy, and a girl in her toddler years ran out and hugged him. Mike looked up, spotted the group and waved at them. Chloe waved back.

"Looks like everything is back to normal…sort of." Jesse said.

"It's far from normal." Haru said. "Knowing Kagehoshi, she would've escaped by now." From the castle, a white beam shot up into the sky and disappeared, just as the castle collapsed into rubble and a huge cloud of dust filled almost the whole sky in a cloud the size of a resulting nuclear attack. "See?"

"Oh, well." Hannah said with a shrug. "You can't win 'em all."

"One more thing." James added. "Kagehoshi's real name isn't Kagehoshi. It's Miranda."

"Oh," Meno said quietly. "But…why would she lie about who she was? Why would she try to kill her own son?"

"You got me," Jesse shrugged.

"Millie!"

Millie turned around at the sound of her name. She beamed when she spotted a girl of fifteen in the woods, who was an exact look-a-like of the mannequin she used to fight with. "Mikoto!" She screeched. She ran to Mikoto and Mikoto kneeled down and hugged her tightly.

"She looks like that dummy." Hassleberry said.

"You don't think…" Chloe started.

"Kageho-Miranda took my big sister from me. That dummy was a copy of her. And you saved the real thing." Millie said. Mikoto stood up and held Millie's hand.

"Thank you for keeping her safe." She went up to Hassleberry. "I can tell you did a good job with those muscles." Mikoto kissed Hassleberry on his cheek.

"Awwww! The sergeant's got an admirer." Syrus cooed.

"Er…you're welcome. Say, where do you live?" Hassleberry asked.

"Domino City."

"You too?" Hannah asked. "We live there too." Hassleberry dropped a communication medallion in Mikoto's delicate hand.

"If you have any trouble, you call us straight away, okay?" Hassleberry said. Mikoto blinked in surprise, but nodded.

"See you!" Millie said happily, waving behind her as she walked off with Mikoto. A blue circular portal appeared in front of the two sisters. Millie turned around, gave one final wave, and walked off through the portal.

"I'm glad she's happy." Chloe said. "She deserves it."

"Hey, private Phoenix! Where do we go now?" Hassleberry asked. Aster said nothing, and stared out at the ruins of the castle.

"Er…Aster?" Syrus asked.

"Mom," Aster said quietly.

_He must still be in shock._ James thought.

"Alright, everybody. Here's what we're going to do." James started.

…

Karen wandered into the living room and sat on the sofa with a sigh, holding a mug of coffee in her hands.

"How long has it been since they left?" She asked herself. "It must have been at least a few weeks." She stood up and looked out of the window. "I hope Hannah's okay." She suddenly spotted a blue circle appear in the reflection. She turned around, and a blue portal floated in the living room. Electricity crackled out of it and Hannah stepped out.

"It's good to be home." She sighed. "Hi mom," She said casually, waving at Karen. "It worked everyone. You can come through." She yelled through the portal. A whole group of people walked through the portal and flocked into the living room.

"Goody! This sofa's comfy." Meno said, sitting down on the sofa.

"Really? Hey, move over!" Chloe jumped onto the sofa next to Meno.

"Wh-what's going on?" Karen asked. "James?"

"Sorry about the short notice, Karen." James said. "But you don't have a communication medallion, and Aster's cell phone didn't have any signal."

"Communica…what?!" Karen said.

"Okay, it's the green one right?" Hassleberry yelled from the bookshelf.

"That's for the store room. You want the blue book." James answered.

"This one?" Hassleberry pulled on the blue book, and the bookcase immediately moved to the side. "Take that as a yes." He muttered, and walked through it.

"Where's this go, then?" Syrus wondered, running through.

"Wait for us?" Jaden shouted, running through the passageway with Jesse still carrying Melody.

"What…But…How…" Karen stuttered.

"You should probably sit down." James said. Karen slowly sat down on the sofa.

"Hi! I'm Chloe!" Chloe said happily. Karen groaned and buried her head in her hands.

"Was it something I said?" Chloe asked Meno. Meno shrugged.

"I don't know why you followed me, Daddy. Leave me alone!" Daisy snapped as she walked through the portal with Kai.

"I told you, I regret everything I did. All I ask is your forgiveness."

"Forgiveness?!" Daisy repeated. "Let's see, you can kill Miranda for me, get rid of my scars from when you abused me, destroy your criminal record or I know, you can bring mom back to life!" Daisy stormed off to her bedroom and slammed the door. Aster walked through the portal just as the door slammed.

"What was that all about?" He wondered.

"Aster, how can I get Daisy to forgive me?" Kai asked.

"Do you regret everything you did to her?"

"More than anything."

"Then she'll forgive you…eventually." Kai smiled. "But for now, you'd better stay in the extra rooms Dad got out. Who'd have thought that bookcase had so many secret passages?" Kai walked up to the passageway, where Haru was waiting for him.

"Where are the other kids?" Kai asked.

"They've gone through the passage as well." Haru and Kai began to walk through the corridor.

"You did the right thing leaving Miranda."

"As soon as I saw Daisy suffering, I decided enough was enough. I only joined her because I had nowhere else to go."

"You joined for revenge, didn't you?" Haru asked quietly. Kai nodded.

"I was so angry back then, I lost control of myself. The hand that held my sword killed so many innocent people. But as soon as I saw Daisy come into the castle, my anger went away immediately. I turned back into the man before all the trouble started. Today, one of Miranda's most loyal subjects rebelled."

"I understand how you feel. My brother and I had our parents kidnapped and killed so we'd join Miranda. All to get two stone wielders. But when Hassleberry defeated my brother, Miranda had him…well…" Haru closed his eyes, unable to finish his sentence.

"Was your brother Sekio?" Kai asked. Haru nodded. "He was a good man. I'm proud of your brother."

"He wasn't much of a talker though." Haru added. He laughed a little at his joke.

"Hey, there you are." Syrus said as he walked out of the other end of the corridor. "Check this place out. It's amazing." Syrus disappeared around the corner again. The two men turned the corner with Syrus and walked into a room the size of a banquet room. It was littered with all sorts of gadgets and games, and doors were scattered around the circular room. Jaden and Syrus were competing against each other in air hockey. Hassleberry was trying out a basketball hoop attached to the wall. Meno and Chloe rushed from behind Haru and Kai and ran off to a large widescreen television, leaping onto a red sofa.

"Wow." Aster said. "That thing is full of surprises. Wait, where's Jesse?" Aster looked around the room for Jesse, but he wasn't in sight.

"He went into that room." Hassleberry shouted, scoring another basket with the hoop. Aster went to the door and stopped for a moment to look around at his friends.

_I'm glad everyone came out okay. _Aster thought. He spotted Hannah barge Syrus out the way for a game of air hockey with Jaden. _Hannah's getting along with Jaden._ Haru grabbed the basketball from Hassleberry and scored a successful basket effortlessly. _Haru's forgiven dino boy. And me?_ He looked back at the door. _I'm not sure I can get over the fact that my enemy is my mother. But I just want to see if Jesse is okay. After all, he almost lost Melody._ He opened the door and entered the room, closing the door behind him.

The room reminded Aster of a five star hotel, with a giant oak wardrobe, a doorway leading to a white bathroom, a dark oak desk with a dark wooden chair in front of it with a red velvet cushion on top, and a queen sized bed for one person. Underneath the covers, Melody had the duvet up to her chest.

"Jesse?" Aster called out. "Are you in here?" The door opened behind him, and Jesse walked in, but stopped after seeing Aster.

"Oh…hey." He said quietly. He removed his bow and arrows from his back and discarded them by the wall.

"I just wanted to know if Melody was okay. I understand how you feel about her, so if you don't want to tell me, I'll just-"

"No," Jesse said. "Stay. I could use the company." Aster blinked in surprise.

"Uh…okay." He glanced at Melody. "I had no idea Melody could be so powerful. She must really care about all of us if she made force fields to keep us safe. And I bet…she cares about you too Jesse. A lot."

"Yeah. I suppose she does have a thing for me." Jesse said quietly.

"Dude…she kissed you. It's obvious." Aster pointed out.

"How are you so calm?" Jesse asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I just can't believe you're acting like you used to after all you've been through in one day. You had contact with James, got kidnapped, saw what happened to Daisy and James, became trapped in a mirror while your body was possessed and attacked us, Daisy nearly died, we nearly died…" Jesse listed on his fingers.

"Don't forget the electric chair."

"And the electric chair." Jesse added. "James was trapped in an hourglass, Melody nearly died for you, you practically had an emotional breakdown after thinking all this was your fault, and on top of all that, it turns out Kagehoshi is your own mother who went missing when you were five after trying to kill you!" Aster stared at Jesse in surprise as a silence came over them.

"Whoa…now that you think about it, that is a lot." Aster muttered, fiddling with a section of his hair.

"See? This is what I'm talking about! If I were in your shoes, I would have gone crazy."

"Heck, I've been through worse. Guess I've learnt how to live through it all."

"You amaze me, Aster. You know that?" Jesse said, slumping down into a chair. Aster laughed.

"You amaze me just as much. Melody nearly died, but you're living through it as well."

"Yeah, but…that's different."

"Well I can tell a lot is going through your head right now, but I-" Aster suddenly gasped in mid sentence. He staggered backwards clutching his head with his right hand, his eyes wide.

"Aster!" Jesse yelled, alarmed. He stood up and went to Aster, who was shaking all over. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's near us." Aster muttered. "And they're not on our side."

"What're you on about?" Jesse asked.

"I can see what they see. Everything…it all looks like blood."

"Blood?! Aster what's wrong?" Jesse asked, beginning to panic. Aster looked up at Jesse, his face not as shocked as before.

"I'm sorry…what…was I saying again?" Aster asked.

"How should I know? You just went all weird before you finished talking."

"I did?" Aster asked.

"Yeah. You said you saw blood. Whatever happened it creeped you out. You were trembling and all."

"I…" Aster started. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You mean you don't remember?!" Jesse asked. Aster shook his head.

"Wait…something's coming to me…yeah, there's someone near us. It must be one of mom's followers. They've found us."

…

"So Daisy's okay?" Karen asked James, as the two of them sat on the sofa in the living room flat, each holding mugs of coffee.

"As far as I know, everything is alright. But…the main mastermind behind all this is on the move, so that's why I opened that passageway in the bookcase. It will keep all the kids safe. At least for a while." James answered, looking out at the setting sun in the window.

"What about me?" Karen asked.

"You're going home. It's getting dangerous. At least then you'll be safe."

"But…what about Hannah?"

"She'll be staying here with us. Miranda will go after her and probably kill her. If she's a t home with you, both of you will get killed, but here, Hannah is safe, and Kagehoshi won't harm you if Hannah is with you."

"I understand." Karen said. Suddenly, the two of them heard screaming from downstairs. Something whooshed through the air, and the screaming immediately stopped, and bodies fell to the ground.

"Oh my god. What just happened?" Karen choked.

"I don't know." James answered. "But it's over now. You haven't got anything to worry about." James sighed. "I have a feeling there are a few less beings in this world."

"You mean…someone just died?!" Karen asked.

"Yes," James answered quietly.

…

In the floor below where the gang were living, a puff of white smoke appeared in front of a wooden door. When the smoke cleared, Magdala stood in that spot.

"We made it, momma!" She said happily, looking around herself. "Momma?" She muttered, her face moving from her cheerful smile to sad frown. There was nobody with her. She was alone.

"_Magdala…"_

"Momma! Where are you?" Magdala asked, looking around her for the voice.

"_I can't tell you. I'm communicating with you mentally. I've found out that your big brother is in this city somewhere. You can stay in the room in front of you until you find him."_ Another small puff of smoke appeared by Magdala's right side. A white shoulder bag appeared over her body, and a large white suitcase appeared on the floor.

"_There's enough things in the suitcase for you to live for a few months here. It has all the essentials. Clothes, wash things, food. And in case you run out of some of the items, there's a lot of money in your shoulder bag so you can buy some more."_

"Is this room going to be my home?" Magdala asked.

"_For now, yes. Remember this. Your big brother has blue eyes and silver hair. Until I find you, I want you to find him…and end him."_

"Yes, momma." Magdala smiled. "I'll make you proud."

"_Good girl. Momma loves you very much. Goodbye…"_

"Wait, don't go." Magdala cried out. She glanced at her suitcase.

"I'm supposed to live here?" Magdala asked. "Momma?" She didn't get a reply.

_She's gone. _She thought. She stared at the wooden door.

"Here I go…" She muttered. She turned the door knob and entered the flat, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" A man's voice asked.

"Get out! Momma said this was my home." Magdala's voice snapped.

"You can't tell us what to do." Another man yelled.

"Then I have to kill you."

"You? Kill US? Ha! You've got to be joking me."

"Wait. Dan, look at her hair."

"What the hell's goin' on?!" Dan yelled.

"My god! Is that an axe? In her hair?!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Dan yelled. The two men screamed as something moved through the air at a fast speed, until their screams stopped and they fell to the ground. Silence. The door creaked open, and Magdala walked out, a giant blood splat now on the door. She walked up to her suitcase, grabbed the handle, and pulled it into the flat, closing the door behind her.

**Well, there you have it. The gang have arrived back at domino safely, but Magdala is on the floor just below them! Y'know, maybe I should make a third story. But I'm stuck for a title. Hmmm…any ideas folks? More coming soon.**


	24. Chapter 24: Blind Sacifice

**Well, here ya go folks! Uh…I dunno wot else 2 say! :) Except stay tuned for series three of my story! Well, hope you like this chapter!**

Chapter 24

Blind Sacrifice

"We interrupt this program for a breaking news report,"

"Urgh! I hate it when they interrupt wrestling for these things." Jaden complained.

"Shush! I want to know what the news is." Jesse hissed.

"This morning, at approximately eleven thirty, four courpses were discovered in Domino Park. All of them had either their lower limbs cut off, their heads decapitated or anything else of the sort. There were no witnesses of when the murderer committed this bloody crime, but a citizen says they saw a young girl of fourteen run out of the park before the remains of the victims were discovered."

"Whoa." Syrus muttered. "Hey Meno! You'd better get a look at this!" He yelled.

"You're wasting your breath, Truesdale." Hassleberry said. "Nobody's seen that girl since this morning." At this point, Meno walked through the entrance of the passageway and sat on the sofa with the other boys. Several seconds later, she realised the boys were looking at her strangely.

"Why are you staring at me? I something wrong?" Meno asked.

"No. Nothing's wrong." Jesse said. "It's just that…"

"There's this report of someone cutting people up into sashimi." Jaden said. Meno's eyes widened.

"Er…whoa. That's…scary." Meno said slowly, glancing around herself.

"Is something wrong?" Syrus asked.

"No. Nothing's wrong." Meno said quickly, standing up and backing away from the boys. "I…I'm sorry I've gotta go." Meno spun around and dashed off to one of the rooms, slamming the door behind her.

"She knows something about it." Jesse said. "I can tell."

"How?" Syrus asked.

"Didn't you look at her clothes? Her cardigan and blouse have small drops of blood on them. She was there when it happened."

"But why did she act so nervous? If I saw something like that, I would've told someone straight away." Hassleberry wondered.

…

Meno sat on the bed in her room, her arms wrapped around her knees.

"No…" She whispered. "It can't be…not again…" She sat up properly on her bed. "I thought Miranda taught me how to control myself. Guess it's only temporary." She buried her face into her hands and began to cry. "I don't want it to happen all over again. I don't want it."

"Meno?" Syrus asked, walking through the door. Meno wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"What is it, Syrus?"

"You ran off. I wanted to see if you were okay." Syrus walked up to Meno's bed and sat next to her.

"Syrus?" Meno began. "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Erm…sure."

"If I can't control myself…If people carry on dying…" She looked up at Syrus, her eyes starting to water. "I want you to kill me…" She whispered. Syrus' eyes widened.

"W-what?!" Syrus said.

"Nothing. Forget it." Meno said, burying her face in her hands again.

_Meno…_ Syrus thought. Suddenly, someone burst through the door, and Aster dashed into the room gasping for breath.

"What's wrong?" Syrus asked. After Aster regained his breath, he stood up again, his face filled with panic.

"Guys, we've got a problem," Aster gasped.

…

Several minutes later, everybody, including James, Melody and Karen, were in the living room of the flat, with Aster stood up facing the group.

"What is it, Aster?" Chloe asked.

"And where's Hannah?" Jaden asked, looking around the room.

"That's the problem. She's gone." Aster said.

"GONE?!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"What do you mean gone?!" Haru asked.

"I mean as in not there anymore. Look, I'll just start from the beginning."

_Flashback_

_Aster wandered through a dark forest, the only light being a full moon in the sky._

"_The dreams again…" Aster muttered. "Dammit! I thought I got rid of them."_

"_Aster…"_

_Aster stopped walking at the sound of his name._

"_Who's there?" He asked._

"_Aster!" The voice said again, but more urgent this time._

"_I recognise that voice…" Aster said. "It sounds like…"_

"_ASTER!"_

"_It is! It's Hannah!" Aster yelled. He dashed off through the forest, weaving in and out of tree trunks and jumping over fallen ones. Soon, he saw an orange light up ahead. He ran through the gap in the trees, and came into a clearing. A large circular orange portal lay on the ground, and some of the trees blew towards it. Hanging above the portal was a cage, and inside was Hannah._

"_Hannah!" Aster yelled._

"_Aster, don't come close." Hannah shouted. "Or the vortex will draw you in, too. Miranda wants me for something because I'm a phoenix warrior. Soon, this thing will draw me in and I'll…well…"_

"_Die?" Aster whispered. Hannah nodded sadly. "NO! YOU CAN'T DIE!" Aster yelled._

"_Don't worry. Miranda underestimates me. I have powers, remember? She thinks I'm helpless because I'm blind, but I'm not." Aster's eyes shined as he looked up at Hannah. "Listen, my body might appear where you are. If it does, take me home. I may appear dead, but I won't be."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I dunno." Hannah shrugged. The vortex began to grow stronger, uprooting some of the trees and pulling them in. Aster shielded himself from the vortex, and he noticed that the rope holding Hannah's cage up was beginning to break thread by thread._

"_Hannah!" Aster yelled._

"_Don't worry about me, Aster. I'll be fine!" Hannah shouted over the roar of the wind. The rope snapped, and Hannah fell towards the vortex. "Remember what I said!"_

"_NO!" Aster yelled._

"_Ah!" Aster gasped, sitting up in his bed. "Phew! Thank God that's over. It was only a dream. But still…" Aster climbed out of bed, opened the door of his room and glanced around for Hannah's door. When he found it, he walked towards it and opened it slowly._

"_Hannah?" He asked quietly. His eyes widened. The bed sheets were a mess, and Hannah wasn't in bed._

"_Oh no. It wasn't a dream." Aster gasped._

"So now, Hannah's gone. And I don't know where she is. All I know is that she might be in a forest near this city."" Aster finished.

"This is bad," Jaden muttered.

"Really bad," Daisy agreed.

"There's a forest on the edge of town. We can look there." Karen said eagerly.

"What if we don't find anything?" Melody asked.

"We'll look in any forest we can." Karen answered. "Nobody hurts my daughter."

…

Karen, Aster, Haru and Daisy walked through the forest, with Karen ahead of them all.

"The others have all gone off in another direction to us in this forest." Karen said. "We'll go a bit further into this trail…" Haru looked down at the floor. "Then we'll scatter and start searching."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Haru dared to ask. Karen stopped walking and looked over her shoulder.

"What did you say?" She hissed. Daisy and Aster stopped walking.

"Karen, we all want Hannah back just as much as you do, but knowing Miranda, just how is it possible to look for her without any leads?" Haru continued.

"Don't say that." Karen spat.

"We're not going to see Hannah again…are we?" Karen clenched her fists. "Like many other victims of Miranda. Never to be seen again…"

"SHUT UP!" Karen yelled, grabbing Haru by the shirt under his waistcoat. "So we should give up, right? Is that what you're saying?"

"Come on you two, cut it out!" Daisy said, trying to keep the peace.

"Karen, I know Hannah would never walk into a trap set by Miranda, even if she was sleep walking. Miranda must have taken control of her somehow. But what if it had been you who had walked out on us?" Karen's eyes widened. "What if it were you who was thought dead? It could be any of us who was taken. What we should do is stop worrying about where Hannah is and focus on why she was taken." Karen sighed.

"You're right." She let go of Haru's shirt.

"I'll get the others." Aster said, walking off into the forest. He went deeper and deeper into the woods, until the sunlight was almost invisible through the trees. He stopped walking and looked around.

"Oh, great." Aster muttered. "I'm lost." He kicked a tree trunk in frustration. Suddenly, it faded away. "What the-" He kicked another tree nearby him. Once again, it faded.

_All the trees are fake. But why?_ Aster thought. He punched his right fist to his side. Dust travelled across the floor at a great distance, destroying any trees that were fake, and revealing what was really there. Ash lay on the forest floor, and in the middle was a giant hole.

"This is like my dream. That hole must be where the vortex was." He stared down into it. It was so dark that he couldn't see the bottom. He picked up a stone and threw it down. The stone disappeared in the blackness, until after what felt like an eternity, he heard the stone hit the floor, but it was so faint, it was like dropping a pin at the top of the highest tower.

"Looks pretty far down. Ah well." Aster made his phoenix wings appear behind him and flew down the hole. At the speed he was flying at, he reached the bottom in no time. Aster stopped himself from flying so that he hovered inches from the ground.

"It's so dark." Aster muttered, his voice echoing across the darkness. "The others are probably worried about me. But this might lead to Hannah, so they'll have to wait. If only I had some light." Suddenly, a fireball appeared in front of Aster, surprising him. "I have no idea how that happened, but I'm not complaining." The entire room lit up from the fireball. It was filled with skeletons who's bones were already starting to rot.

"Ew." Aster said, allowing his wings to disappear and landing on the ground. "Right after breakfast as well. Lovely." Suddenly, a man burst out of the ground directly next to Aster, making Aster yell in surprise and fall to the floor. "Jesus Christ! Don't scare me like that!" Aster yelled. The man wore tattered and torn clothes that had long lost their colour, his hair was greasy and filled with dirt, and his eyes showed the veins and were blood shot.

"Ah, a new one. Did Kagehoshi send you down here?" The man asked.

"Er…no. My cousin was though. And her name's not Kagehoshi. It's Miranda now."

"Hmmm…then her secret identity is revealed."

"Yeah…she's kinda my mom." The man gasped.

"Oh I pity you. Please, allow me to help you up." The man offered Aster his hand, which had gashes, dirt and blood all over it. Aster stared at it in disgust.

"No thanks. I'll pass." Aster said, standing up.

"Tell me young man. What is your name?"

"As…ter?" He answered slowly, still not sure what exactly was going on

"They call me Chambers. The reason: I've been trapped in this chamber for many years now, and unlike the others, I don't die easily."

"Look, as much as I enjoy a little story, I've got a cousin to find." Aster began to walk away "So if you don't mind, I have to-AH!" Chambers ran in front of Aster, blocking his way. "What did I tell you about scaring me?" He snapped. The man stared at Aster closely.

"Ah yes…I know what you're like. Even when we're complete strangers. I can tell just by looking at you. Your outfit shows that you are wealthy and always busy, yet you like time on your own more than you like time with others. Your hair…let's see. Ah, you can be stubborn at times, but you care greatly about your friends and family. And your eyes. My god, they show so much about you. You've been through a lot in such a short time. Your eyes show confidence, yet behind that mask, there is great sadness and sorrow. A battle is going on in your mind between what is right and what is wrong. You fear about losing those close to you every single waking moment. Even in your dreams. You always mask what you're really feeling. Only in dire circumstances do your true emotions surface. Ah yes, I can tell what you're like clearly now. You hate having your true emotions revealed. You can't stand to see someone cry, yet now, I can tell, only a few days ago, you were crying over something." Aster stared at Chambers, amazed.

"How did you know?" Aster asked.

"An old man has his secrets. You were faced with an ultimatum. The first time in one day. Then, you were faced with the loss of someone close to you. The second time. You then thought that something was all because of you, and some people were going to die because of you. The third time sadness showed. Then, there was the relief of a loved one being safe. That time, you cried of happiness. Four times. You, a boy who hides his emotions, cried four times in one day. And I can tell that the person causing all your pain…is Miranda."

"Look, do you have a point?" Aster asked, frustrated.

"Listen to me, boy. Your pain. My pain. Everybody's pain was all because of Miranda. I know what you are. You are a phoenix warrior. She took your cousin for a reason. Soon, if you're not careful, she shall rule the universe with darkness. Soon, everybody will fell the pain you and I feel now. You must stop her, Aster. Only you can defeat her. You are the boy of the phoenix. Miranda wants that power more than anything. Don't let her have it, Aster. Defeat Miranda, and I and many others in Kagehoshi's wrath shall be free."

"Wha…phoenix?"

"Yes. Miranda wants that power. With it, she'll rule the universe, and you'll be powerless to stop her. You can only have the phoenix's power if another phoenix warrior is believed to be dead. That is my wisdom to a fine phoenix warrior." The room began to get dark, and Chambers faded away. "Don't lose…Aster"

"But I don't-" Aster started, but he found himself back in the forest, the large hole gone, and the ashes nowhere to be seen. "What was that all about?" Aster asked himself. "And Hannah still isn't around. Damn." A strong wind blew through the forest, and dust blew across the ground. Some of the dust twisted in a small vortex, and a shadow appeared on the bottom of it. Aster watched as the shadow began to form, and the dust cleared, showing a body lying on the floor. Aster walked up to the body to look at its face. He gasped.

"No…" He whispered. Lying on the floor was a girl wearing a red tunic dress with short straps, a white blouse underneath, red footless tights, red ballet pumps, a white hair band in her shoulder length ginger hair and closed eyes.

"Hannah…"

…

Hannah lay in a bed back at the passageway, with Aster sitting beside her.

"_When the time comes, you'll be able to bring me back."_

"_Miranda thinks I'm helpless because I'm blind, but I'm not."_

_Hannah…_Aster thought.

"_I may appear dead, but I'm not."_

"_Don't worry about me, Aster. I'll be fine." _Aster looked down sadly.

_Tell me Hannah…I…what am I supposed to do now?_ Suddenly, Hannah's body began to glow yellow, and suddenly it disappeared into dust. Aster's eyes widened.

"That body was a fake…but then, where's the real body?" Aster wondered.

…

In a forest near Domino City, everything was quiet, except for the hooting of an owl in the night time. Trees blew in a sudden wind that appeared out of nowhere. A spot in the floor glowed white in a circle shape, and Hannah rose out of it, a blindfold over her eyes.

"What the…where am I? Why is there something over my eyes?" Hannah wondered, feeling the material over her eyes. "Not that it bothers me much."

"_Hannah…I'm sorry."_

"That voice…" Hannah whispered. "Miranda! What have you done?!"

"_This is not the enemy speaking, but your real aunt."_ Hannah gasped.

"Hold on, you're not tricking me are you?" Miranda sighed.

"_Your favourite food is ramen in pork broth, and your least favourite is bananas."_

"It really is you. What's going on?"

"_The other me kept you hostage, but I decided enough was enough. I took over and set you free before it had a chance to kill you. And to prove how sorry I am for everything I've been forced to do, I gave you your greatest wish. Take off the blindfold and open your eyes."_ Hannah hesitated, confused by the whole ordeal, but undid the knot behind her head and threw the white fabric behind her. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Instead of looking blank and distant, the blue colour was a deeper blue, and the shine was visible. Hannah gasped.

"Oh…oh my god. I-I don't believe it!" Hannah started. "I…I can see. I'm not blind anymore." Hannah whispered.

"Now hurry and find my son. I don't have long before my other half takes over. And when you find Aster, I want you to give him a message."

"I'm listening…" Hannah said.

"His mother still exists in this body, and that I love him with everything I have,"

"Uh…okay…" Hannah said slowly.

"Now go. I wait for the day I'll see you two again. Goodbye…" Silence followed.

"So now I can see…everything looks so amazing." Hannah placed her hand on a tree trunk. "This must be a tree. And that white thing in the sky…a moon?" Hannah laughed happily. "There's still good in her. But right now, I need to find Aster!" She proclaimed, pointing up at the sky. "Which…I have no idea how to do…" She said slowly, bringing her hand down. There was another silence.

"GODDAMMIT!" Hannah yelled as loudly as she could.

…

Aster walked out onto the balcony of the flat and looked at the city. The lights of the city shone like thousands of fireflies, and hundreds of cars sped along roads with their headlamps on after working late.

"GODDAMMIT!"

"Huh?" Aster said, looking around him. "What was that?" He shrugged it off and carried on looking across the city.

_Hannah…I know now you're still alive…but I don't know where you are. Auntie_ _Karen will go home tomorrow, so she's safe, but I can't bear to think what might be_ _happening to you._ Aster shivered slightly, and walked back into the warmth of the flat.

_I've still got a lot of questions in my mind…and I'm not sure when they'll get answered. I'm not sure why my mother would turn evil, and then there's the fact that Miranda's followers have found us. I'm not sure about a lot of things._ Aster clutched the golden locket around his neck.

_We're all in danger right now. But we'll get through it all, I know we will. We're gonna find Hannah, save mom, and then everything will be back to normal._ Aster closed his eyes.

"Who am I kidding? Everything will be far from normal. I'm still a phoenix warrior. That's something that can't be changed." Aster pulled the green book in the bookcase, and walked through the passageway.

One floor below Aster, Magdala looked through at the money in amazement and stared at the beautiful clothes that lay on the bed before her.

Back at the forest, Hannah wandered through it, confused and lost at the world she was seeing for the first time, and unsure about what she was going to do.

Aster walked into the large chamber filled with gadgets. There was nobody in sight, for they had all gone to bed.

_Mom…don't worry._ Aster looked up smiling._ We're gonna save ya._

**Well, that's it everyone. That's the end of Captured Flower. But not to worry, there is a third one coming soon. Next time…Aster and Magdala face off, Hannah struggles to find her way home, Aster learns of something surprising with his powers, the mysterious murderer is revealed, and along with it their past, Haru meets a new and familiar foe and can Aster save his mom? Find out in the next story, entitled Phoenix Fire. Yes I know it's a lame title, but it's the best I could come up with. I might change it later as the third story progresses, but until then, that's the title, like it or lump it. Anyways, keep an eye out for the third series folks! See ya later!**


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